Killer s Instinct II: Step by step
by Observer123
Summary: Scratch returns to Petropolis. Like a shadow he will lie on the city again with one goal, making a few special people pay. Will he be stopped? Or will the psychopath be able to finish what he had begun? LAST CHAPTER IS UP.
1. Somebody's daughter

**-Well finally, after a long time, I´m done. Sorry that it took me so long. I hope you´ll like this story so, have fun :D -**

Seattle. Saturday. 23th Febuary. A cold wind blew a heavy rain through the streets. It was one of these rains you wouldn´t sent a dog out… and no dog was outside. Generally nobody was outside except the cars that made their way through the rain which opposed them like a wall.

The people that weren´t on the street spent this evening in all kinds of establishments weather to celebrate that it´s weekend or to wait that the rain would stop. In one of these establishments, an old dusty strip club, two guys, a gaunt tall lion in a black suit with black tie and a smaller dog wearing a grey shirt combined with a suit pants, sat in the first row in front of the stage.

Both of them had a glass of Whiskey in their hands even if you couldn´t say that there was anything left in the dogs glass. With his free hand the dog ran over his bald head to the spot where his skin was covered by his light grey fur before he raised it to call the waitress. Seeing that the lion commented it with a growl.

"Oh come on, it´s just the second one." Meant the dog rolling his eyes.  
The reply he received from the lion was a raised eyebrow.  
"Seneca, please." Sighed the dog. "Don´t spoil that. Tonight is the night!"

The waitress finally came and brought the dog another glass of Whiskey.  
"You said that the last three times, Scratch." The lion said raising his grotesquely high squeaky voice.  
"But this time I think we got him and…" Scratch stopped his explanations as the DJ announced the next dancer on the stage who supposed to be a girl called 'Candy'.

Scratch and Seneca watched a while how the black cat girl sprawled on the pole. They watched how the girl got slowly undressed while she was doing her seductively dance.  
"You know what?" began Scratch with his eyes pinned on the dancing girl. "I can´t really enjoy this anymore. Since a few weeks I´m thinking that this is somebody´s daughter who is dancing there. I somehow have these father feelings lately. You know what I mean?"

The lion just shrugged with a bored look.  
"Of course." Sighed Scratch annoyed. "Why am I even talking with you about that? I mean do you even have kids?"  
"Yes, seven."

"Seven?!" Scratch had almost spit out the Whiskey he was drinking.  
"Yep, and that are just the one I know about." In Seneca´s voice lay a casual tone.  
"You always surprise me my friend." Scratch received a wink from Seneca after saying this. "Okay, now you have to tell me how you produced so much kids."

"Well, if I don´t speak and the women don´t hear my squeaky voice they like me." Giggled Seneca mischievously.  
"But you have to say at least sometimes something."

"Well then I use this voice" Seneca suddenly had a very deep intimidating masculine voice.  
Again Scratch had almost spit out the sip of Whiskey he just wanted to swallow. "Whoa…" he meant coughing. "you should really use this voice more often."  
"Nope…" said Seneca in his dark voice.

"Well then do what you want…I can´t force you. By the way, why are you here with me and not with your kids?"  
"Hm… I don´t have the custody." Sighed Seneca in a neutral tone. "But I pay for them and visit them as often as possible."

"Oh okay…" Scratch was now a bit more careful, he didn´t know how Seneca really felt about this subject. Also the taciturnity of his friend made it hard to read in him. "… well, how old are your kids?"  
"The oldest is my son who is 17 now and the youngest is my daughter with 11 years." His eyes glittered a bit as he told him that and Scratch could see that he was proud about them.

"And why are you doing this job?" probed Scratch.  
"Money for the family... and I like my coworkers" Seneca gave Scratch smiling a nudge on the arm and continued watching the stripper. Scratch meanwhile looked at his watch. "Oh, it´s time."

He reached into his breast pocket and handed Seneca hundred Dollar. "Give that the DJ and say that he should turn up the Volume, we need privacy."  
Seneca nodded and got immediately up to do what he was told to. Also Scratch stood up, but he didn´t walk to the DJ, the bathrooms or the entrance like a normal guest would do.

He made his way through a crowd of guys who watched drooling how Candy danced to a little inconspicuous door in a corner of the club. Behind that door which was heavier and thicker than it looked like lay a windowless dark room.

After closing the door Scratch searched a few seconds on the dark wall for the switch which lighted up a single old bulb. The bulb hung on a single wire from the ceiling caused a cone of light which swayed together with the bulb back and forth because of the gust of wind that the closing of the door caused.

In this light, on a chair, sat pretty battered looking weasel. Scratch grinned excited about the thing that would come. "This guy probably thinks the worst is over… I will proof him wrong." He thought as he picked up the little hammer and the 40 centimeter long rail spike that was lying on the ground and began to speak to his victim. "Good evening, Mathew Richards if I´m not mistaken."

"Who wants to know that?" asked the man on the chair looking out of his beaten face into Scratch´s eyes.  
"Orcus, amicus. And Orcus is also the place where I´ll send you."  
"Orcus… the god of the underworld in the roman mythology? Assuming that you speak Latin I suppose you´re the famous criminal who calls himself Scratch."

"You not as stupid as you look like, Mr. Richards. Anyway, shall we begin?"  
"Sure." Meant the weasel and spat blood on the floor.  
Scratch cleared his throat and began. "Who is the one you´re working for?"  
"Try whatever you want, you won´t make me speak."

"You have no idea." Meant Scratch putting the rail spike gently between Richard´s collarbone and shoulder blade. Gently, until he hit it with the hammer. Under loud screams Scratch drove the so nail deep into Richard´s flesh that the long piece of metal was half way in.

"I said you have no idea." Laughed Scratch manically.  
"Pah! I´ve been through worse." Growled Richards shivering as the warm blood from his shoulder began to run down his body.

"Just the beginning." Scratch put the hammer away and searched the floor for the device he needed next. The big sledgehammer was heavy and bulky but Scratch loved that old thing. They´ve been through a lot together. He and his hammer.

At first, as Scratch had just invented this new kind of torture, he could barely handle the hammer.  
But after some practice he knew how to hit his target. And the target was always the rail spike. And in this special case, the rail spike that jutted out of Richards shoulder.

He took a big swing and hit the spike not on the head but on the side. The metal rattle was just drowned by the crack sound that the collarbone made as it gave in. And again Richards screamed but this time so loud that Scratch feared that someone would hear it outside the door in the club.

"Okay." Meant Scratch as Richards scream became a whine. "Before I proceed I´ll tell what I will do to you. Your collarbone is broken and the point of the spike in your flesh is pointing directly at your shoulder blade. I will hit with my friend sledgehammer here the head of the nail so that it pierces through it. How does that sound?"

"Awful." Panted Richards almost fainting.  
"That describes it pretty well." Giggled Scratch evilly. "But we could end it now if you tell me who you´re working for."  
"Okay. I´ll sing. My name isn´t Mathew Richards. I´m Ron Sullivan, FBI."

"OH GOD DAMMIT!" shouted Scratch suddenly angry. "YOU KIDDING ME, RIGHT?!"  
"I´m an undercover investigator and I were sent after you. And now I got you… not as I wanted it but finally we got you." In spite of all the pain he felt the FBI agent was able to put a smile on his face. "There is no way that you could get out of here. A dozen agents will storm the club in a few seconds and we got you."

"Tua amici et tu peribitis." Growled Scratch and put on a pair of black leather gloves.  
"I don´t know what you just said but…" if you had ask Agent Sullivan a day ago he had never thought that these would be the last words that ever passed his lips. If you asked him a day ago he had thought that he would catch Scratch.

But he had never thought that he would get killed by his enemy by a single shot between the eyes. The shot was loud but not so loud that you could hear him from the other side of the door. Otherwise there was something else going on in the club. Scratch heard that the music stopped and how a forceful voice called through the room. "FBI, ON THE GROUND!"

In exasperation laid Scratch his hands on his temples and begun to massage them with circular motions. This Mathew Richards was the third this month they interrogated. The first one had just the same name like the guy they searched for so they let him go, without torture. The second one had the name Richard Mathews, so also a mistake. And this one… a FBI trap. And he was so sure that this one the right one.

Looking at the dead body Scratch asked himself if it wasn´t a false decision to shoot this man. Maybe he was just a bit too angry about the fact that that was the third time he was wrong. Anyway, what´s done can´t be undone. The guy was dead and his friends were literally knocking on his door. He had two choices now.

Flee or fight. Fleeing meant that he would leave Seneca back and in the hands of the FBI. But fighting meant that he had to battle a squad of trained agents with itching trigger-fingers. A pessimistic part of him sighed remembering a situation long ago. _'Exactly like Acapulco.'_  
"I´m afraid I have to agree with you." he replied to his inner part.

_'Try to hit their shoulders this time… a dozen dead FBI agents. The press will hate you then.'_  
"If they don´t already hate me for killing one of them."  
Someone now knocked at the door of the room. "FBI! OPEN THE DOOR!"

"Whatever you say" mumbled Scratch as he took up position besides the door. As the agent was sick of waiting and burst through the door Scratch placed a karate chop on the throat of the agent, grabbed his gun and pushed him away.

For Scratch the scenery got slower, it was like he watched everything through a high speed camera. He saw the people lying on the ground with their hands on their heads, he saw how two agents handcuffed Seneca who has fought against the capture and he saw the FBI agents standing around the door pointing with their guns at it.

He could count at least ten potential aims and if his intuition was right he had just 1.5 seconds to shot before they would start firing. That wasn´t even enough time to take them all down. It would take them one second before they hit him and another second before he would be dead. But if he moves through the room… that could give him enough time to take them all down, under the premise that he was still the excellent shooter he once was.

Scratch began to move through the room and shot the agents down like someone that shot at cans from a near distance. And the agents fall, and that even if they wear their vests. Scratch knew that it hurt pretty much to get hit by a bullet even if you wear your vest.

After taking down his targets, what was easier than expected, he ran without looking around to Seneca, helped him back on his feet and out of the building. Scratch shot the handcuffs open and ran with Seneca to one of the black FBI official cars that were parked around the building.

"Hot-wire it, fast!" ordered Scratch rushed as he broke the door on his side of the car open. In this moment his negligence, that he just rushed through the room to Seneca without paying more attention to the area around him, paid off.

A caustic pain burnt into his back followed by the sound of a gunshot. Scratch could feel how his strength left his legs. Again the slow motion began. He sunk to his knees and managed it to turn his body with his last bit of strength around. And he saw him, an angry looking FBI agent standing there with his smoking gun.

The guy smiled in this evil, complacent way Scratch usually just knew from himself. Should this be the last thing he would see? This face? Well, in this situation Scratch was lucky because before his senses dwindled he could see how a bullet wiped away the smile from the agents face.  
"Thanks Seneca." He breathed before the darkness embraced him.

**- Tua amici et tu peribitis. = You and your friends will perish.-**


	2. Vacation plans

Loud noise filled the office in the third floor of the T.U.F.F. building. But not the noise of small talks between coworkers and not the noise of fingers that hacked on keyboards. It was the noise of many hands that clapped rhythmically together, cheering.

This noise was for no one else than the Agent Rick Lewis, the young squirrel with his dark blue suit, which always looked like it was oversized, and a new red and white striped tie, which he wore almost like a medal. An heirloom of his father, how he once said, which he just wore on special occasions.

And today was one of these special occasions, today was the day he got honored for capturing three of the biggest villains of Petropolis at once. Birdbrain, Snaptrap and the Chameleon. All of them caught by him. That sounds at first of cause very heroically but it wasn´t such a heroic deed.

More a coincidence. As he should get some doughnuts for the office he entered a little bakery and there the three sat, unarmed and careless. Every child with a gun could have apprehended those three in that moment. So Rick took his chance and now he got honored for his opportunism.

Proudly he strode through the applauding crowd towards his chief, Kitty Katswell, who already waited with a medal in her hand. She grinned friendly as Rick came to her. Also she felt proud. Rick has been her protégé over the last years since Dudley was gone and finally all these months of training effort paid off.

With this deed should he also be accepted among the other Agent. Kitty remembered that he couldn´t really integrate. Rick wasn´t really the typical agent, he was different. And like it always is if someone is different he gets rejected by the broad mass.

But Kitty believed in the one´s who are different. Her last partner, Dudley Puppy, was also different.  
Thinking about him let all those memories come back to the surface. The good old memories and the recent bad memories. The mixture of both created this feeling of indifference in her again.

"Congratulations Rick." Beamed Kitty as he finally arrived in front of her.  
"Thanks chief." Smiled Rick back as Kitty pinned him the medal on his chest. "But no need to honor me, it was my duty."

Kitty had almost started to laugh and pat his head like you would do it with a little kid that just made a funny comment. It was funny and cute at the same time when Rick tried to be cool with clichéd movie quotes. But out of respect and because she didn´t want to destroy the new reputation he earned she didn´t do that. She just grinned, nodded and tried not to burst into laughter.

"Okay e..e..everyone." called Keswick who stood beside her. "The party is over. We have three of them but h..h..hundreds are still on the streets. Back to work."  
Grumbling dissolved the crowd and the T.U.F.F. agents shuffled back to their cubicles.

"Oh and chief, can I t..t..talk to you in private?" without waiting for an answer Keswick had already entered Kitty´s office. A little dusty chamber with a big desk in the middle. It was still furnished in the same way it was furnished by the last chief Herbert Dumbrovski who also died in here.

For Kitty it was hard to call this office her own. The chief was like a father for her and sudden death surprised everyone at T.U.F.F.. She was lucky that it wasn´t her who found him on that day. After Scratch´s unmasking and the things he told her on that day it would have been too much for her.

Still she heard his words in her head like a bad song. "I did this for you Kitty." This sentence was pure provocation. He did that for her? So the depressions and the suicidal thoughts were also something he did for her? The longer she thought about that the more this feeling of indifference arose in her.

That was a really creepy feeling. When she felt it, it was like everything around her doesn´t matter for her anymore. Her whole world began to become grey and indistinguishable, also a feeling of emotional emptiness slowly arose.

That was a reason why she didn´t think so much about the whole Dudley-Scratch-thing. Keswick in the meantime walked with a stern expression in front of the table and waited until Kitty closed the door. In the second the lock clicked into place his stern expression melted into a smirking face.

Kitty knew exactly what was going on and began to laugh loudly. "Haha! This boy is really killing me! 'It was my duty.'" She began to hold her stomach.  
"I know." Meant Keswick joining in her laughter. "This g..g..guy is sometimes so unintentionally hilarious. Like last month when he a..a..accidentally got his tie into the shredder."

"With the time he is getting more and more like Dudley." Giggled Kitty but instead of joining her Keswick suddenly became quiet.  
"Yeah, e..e..except for the fact that he wouldn´t leave and betray us." He said with a voice that was so stern like his face as he entered the office.

"Keswick don´t start this again, please." Sighed Kitty who regretted it now that she mentioned Dudley even if it was unintentionally.  
"Don´t start this again?! Just two m..m..months have passed since we know that Dudley is Scratch. I think it hasn´t e..e..ended yet! I´m not starting this again!"

"Keswick, I just don´t want to hear it again, okay. For me he´s dead. It´s over."  
"That´s all well and good…" sighed Keswick. "…but even if t..t..this point of view gives you finally the peace you deserve, we s..s..shouldn´t forget that Scratch is a criminal, our enemy!"

"As long as he isn´t in the city, we don´t have to deal with him. That´s how it is. And do you really want to bother me with a potential threat on my last working day before my vacation?"  
Keswick suddenly looked taken aback at Kitty, he totally forgot about that. Kitty´s big trip.

It was one of her dreams to make holidays in India. And with the pay raise she received through her promotion to the new chief she finally had the means to make her dream come true. Today she was just here to give Rick his medal and do some paperwork concerning her temporary replacement.

The times in which the name of the one was drawn out of an old head were over. Nowadays you have to send an application to the supreme command if you want to have a temporary replacement. Then they decide if you get one and who it is. The big joke about that is that they won´t tell you who your replacement is.

So instead of letting the chief decide who would be the best to lead T.U.F.F., you get a complete stranger.  
Kitty sat down behind her big table and began to fill the last few sheets while Keswick leaned back on the chair on the other side of the table.

"Don´t you have work to do?" mumbled Kitty without looking up from her papers.  
"I´m carrying out an experiment w..w..where I test the long-term effects of coffee on usual agents."  
"Seriously?" laughed Kitty. "You just watch the people drink coffee?"

"Yes." Confirmed Keswick smiling. "And I watch how the p..p..people react on that… For science."  
"And what´s next? A long-term study how youtube videos influence the work habits?"  
"How do you k..k..know that?" asked Keswick and pretended to be surprised.

"Just a guess." Meant Kitty and concentrated back on her papers. She filled a lot of sheets until the phone on her desk started ringing. She pressed the button for the speaker on it and answered it.  
"Hello?"

"Yeah… uhm, hello Chief Katswell." Boomed a voice through the speaker which sounded like three generations of incest. It was the voice of the new gatekeeper of T.U.F.F.. A pig which could be easily described with the two attributes dumb and nice.

"Ah Mike, what´s going on?" called Kitty friendly towards the phone.  
"Uhm here is someone for you."  
"Who?"

"Uhm… ah cheetah girl with a green top and brown pants and black boots. She has brown hair and wears them as a braid…"  
"Mike…" sighed Kitty with her hand on her face. She couldn´t believe how dim he was. "Don´t describe her to me, give me her name."

"Uhm… I forgot it… but she´s on her way upstairs." With these words he hung up. Kitty now put her hand from her face and hit her head on the table unbelieving.  
"Hey, Kitty. Since when we´ve been e..e..employing idiots?" asked Keswick grinning evilly.  
"We once employed Dudley." She said with her head still on the table.

"Your point." Laughed the T.U.F.F. scientist. "Well, I think I clear o..o..out now. I don´t want to interrupt you and your temporally r..r..replacement doing all this bureaucratic stuff. So, so long!" Keswick opened the door and left the little office.

But not a minute later the door opened again and the cheetah woman which Mike has described entered the room. Kitty´s eyes almost popped out of her head as she saw her standing in front of her. A well-known face she hadn´t seen for a while. Actually, a face she didn´t want to see ever again. But she was it, no doubt.

"Hello Kitty, you missed me?" sneered the cheetah with her hands on her hips.  
"Oh damn no." cursed Kitty smacking the palm of her hand against her forehead. "Not you. Why, for god´s sake, does it have to be you?!"

"Still so theatrical Kitty?" the cheetah asked and set down on the chair Keswick sat before. "You really haven´t changed since the academy… well, you grew older."  
"Exactly like you! We have the same age!" retorted Kitty angrily and stood up.  
"Nope, I kept my youth."

Tired and not willing to give any further respond to these provocations, Kitty flopped back down on her chair. "Jessica…" she sighed. "What do you want from me? Are you just here to annoy me?"  
"No, actually I´m here to congratulate you." Jessica smirked. "It´s really impressing that the number two graduate of the academy becomes the chief of a T.U.F.F. branch."

"Here we go again, huh?" Kitty couldn´t believe that Jessica still beat this dead horse. Just because she was a bit better in the final tests of the academy than Kitty, Jessica thought that this would made her the number one agent. "You know that you had just had one point more in this exam! And you know that I beat you in the basic training later!"

"Pah, I didn´t even try to be good in the basic training, otherwise I had beaten you without any problems."  
"Whatever." Kitty averted her gaze from Jessica onto the papers on her table. "See, I´m waiting for my temporally replacement so would you be so kindly to disappear?"

"Oh, then I have a surprise for you…"  
Kitty looked back up from her papers almost in shock. "You kidding…"  
"Jessica Spotrunner, at your service."  
"NO!"

"Yes!" Jessica began to laugh maliciously.  
"Oh come one!" shouted the cat in exasperation. "Every time I think things are looking up life comes and f*cks me!"  
"Well, that´s probably the only sex you get, huh?"

"Ah, what do you know." Hissed Kitty and pushed a sheet over the table towards Jessica.  
"I heard the thing that happened with this Eric." Said the cheetah as she set her signature on the form.

"Who told you that?!" Kitty couldn´t believe what she just heard, these were private affairs. And Kitty couldn´t remember that she told Jessica anything private.  
"That was just gossip picked up at the water cooler." Jessica didn´t look like she felt sorry for Kitty, she looked more like she was enjoying Kitty´s suffer.

"Enough… enough." Stammered Kitty and walked to the door of her office. "I´m going on my vacation now. And you, do whatever you want. But don´t dare to be here when I´m back."  
"Oh come on Kitty. It´s been 19 years since we´ve seen the last time. Let´s talk a bit more." Screamed Jessica but Kitty had already left the office.

"Okay, if she doesn´t want to talk." Jessica stood up from her chair just to sit down on the chief´s chair behind the desk. Contentedly she laid her feet on the table and leaned relaxed back. "Two weeks" she thought. "Two weeks in which I´m finally having the job I deserve."

In her opinion it was about time that she got this job. Five years she tried to become the chief at T.U.F.F. in Petsburg but then they promoted this completely incompetent idiot. This guy wasn´t even able to tie his own shoes! No need to say that he wasn´t much good as a boss.

That was also the reason why she left the T.U.F.F. branch in Petsburg… Well, not the only reason. The main reason was a little angry outburst in which she destroyed almost the whole office there. Since this little mistake the supreme command has sent her from branch to branch to work as a filler.

She hated it. Her biggest wish now was to get back a normal job as an Agent or even a chief of a T.U.F.F. branch. She needed a way back.  
But at first she would enjoy this job here in Petropolis. Especially she would enjoy that she had the chance to annoy her old competitor Kitty Katswell what was like someone put a cherry on this cake.

And it seemed that this was a complete success. If Jessica loved one thing then it was annoying Kitty. In these 19 years in which they haven´t seen each other it was one of the things she missed.  
Why she did that?

Well, Jessica liked it to be the number one and since the academy Kitty was the only one who had the potential to be as good as her. So she teased her on every day they shared at the academy.  
"Good old times." Sighed Jessica reminiscing and put her feet from the table. It was time to work now. And maybe if she did a good job the supreme command would promote here, who knew?

"Okay… first step is… ah! Case files! Maybe there is something interesting… Okay where is Kitty hiding them?" She began to search in the drawers of the table. But except of some empty sheets she found nothing. "Seems like you became a bit lazy Kitty." As she also searched the last drawer she discovered something.

It was a normal drawer but a very slim one and it was locked. "Oh Kitty." Mumbled Jessica shaking her head. "Do you really think you can hide something from me?" At one go she yanked the drawer open and discovered a file in it.

"What do we have here?" curiously she began to read through the file. "Scratch? I thought that was a myth…" she read further. The file contained contextless information about this guy. Also some photos of him. And then there were four names Willson, White, Robson, Johnson. They were underlined together with the word conspirators. On the last page of the file there was a little note added. 'Keep your distance, he´s dangerous. You know what he did to you.'

_"Well, well. So he´s really exisiting. And he´s dangerous, huh?"_ thought Jessica smiling. She knew Scratch but just from rumors that the scum tells on the streets she picked up while she worked as an undercover agent. Scratch is a legend there. One of those legends the people just tell with fear in their voice. She could remember that a murdering biker with a long beard told her this legend for the first time.

Back then she dismissed this story as nonsense but with this file in her hand an idea suddenly stirred in her. Assuming that Kitty is a reliable source and the stuff in that file was true, what would happen if someone caught this legend?

The person would definitely get promoted. No, more than that, the person could wish for whatever she wants. Jessica began to smile, that was her way out.  
There was just one little flaw. She had no idea where Scratch was. But that was, as already mentioned, just a little flaw. She would get him, but she needed help.


	3. Team reunion

**-Well, after I published the two previews her is a completely new chapter. Hope you have fun and don´t forget to leave a review if you do... Well, I go and get some sleep now...-**

"And you really sure this guy is worth the money?" Scratch asked his friend again as they stood outside in a little alley somewhere in Hamburg. "I mean it would be a shame if I had to spent the money on a…"

Scratch stopped in midsentence as Seneca laid his hand on his shoulder and gave him a look that meant something like 'Trust me'. That look didn´t dispel his doubts but it made him a bit calmer. He also shouldn´t get worked up about something, at least that´s what the doctor said.

He barely survived the two bullets he received by this FBI agent and actually he should rather be in a bed than in a dirty alley somewhere in downtown Hamburg. It all happened very fast after he got shot. Seneca transported him to a doctor who was a friend of them to patch Scratch back up.

During the transport Scratch had ruined the back seats of Seneca´s car with his blood. The nice white seats had big red stains now. After the doc did his best and Scratch was fairly stable Seneca organized a flight for them with which they got out of the country.

Scratch was a wanted man there now, in his condition it was just too dangerous to risk another confrontation with the FBI. So Seneca combined business with pleasure and flew with him to his homeland. Here in Germany, where nobody searched for him, Scratch was able to recover calmly. And that happened very fast, the mutt was though dog.

Just a week after he got shot he was able to leave the bed, even if the doctors didn´t like that. Walking wasn´t a problem any longer, if he used his cane as aid. It was just a brown inconspicuous stick but it was the only thing that kept Scratch´s balance. Without it he would just fall to the side like a tree cut down by a woodcutter.

Now, after Scratch thought that he had enough rest, it was time to get back to business. That was the reason why they stood in this alley. Somewhere here lived a hacker called Sergej Czagek or how he named himself 'Public Void'. The best in his métier, but also the most expensive if you want to hire him.

It wasn´t easy to find him and usually you would hire him over the internet, but Scratch liked to see his business partners in person before he was making deals with them. Of course Scratch also did a background check on his potential business partners. But he didn´t really found much about this guy, he was pretty good in covering his traces.

The only thing he found out about Sergej Czagek was that he was born in the Czech Republic. His parents moved when he was six to Germany. And that´s all. For Scratch that was an unsatisfying amount of information. He was used that he knew more about the people he was making business deals.

"Here." meant Seneca and pointed at a little doorbell nameplate on which the name Czagek was written. They stood in front of a grey ran down apartment building from which the façade crumbled away. The building wasn´t only filthy, old and had a lot of broken widows but was also abandoned. That became clear as Scratch looked at the doorbell nameplates. All of them except the one of Czagek and another one were empty.

Without hesitation Seneca kicked the door open with the words. "Ringing the bell is too mainstream."  
Scratch gazed a bit confused as Seneca walked into the building. It was strange but since they´ve been in this country Seneca somehow changed.

He was full youthful enthusiasm and, what was the weirdest thing, he spoke much more. All in all it was like this homeland visit made him younger. Maybe a bit too young.  
By the help of his cane he heaved himself into the building and up the little staircase of the apartment building.

It took him a while until he arrived another door that was already forced open, what was a sure sign that Seneca was here. And immediately after he stepped through this door he could see Seneca holding a small mole in a chokehold.

"Seneca…" sighed Scratch tiredly. "Leave him."  
Growling released Seneca the little guy who fall panting to the ground. "Was zum Teufel?!"  
"I´m sorry Mr. Czagek, my friend here is a bit… overambitious."

"Overambitious?!" repeated the mole from the ground. "He is sick!"  
"I am not sick." Called Seneca in.  
"Not sick?!" shouted Czagek. "Of course, it´s normal to kick the door of somebody open and begin to choke him!"

"Again, I apologize for my friend. Sorry." Scratch almost bowed as he said that. "But we are definitely not here to hurt you. The purpose of our presence here is purely business."  
"Business, huh?" snorted Czagek and walked to his door. "I don´t think I want to have a business relation with people like you." With a gesticulation he demanded them to leaf his apartment.

"People like us?!" Seneca was about to jump on Czagek again but Scratch stopped him from that with the help of his cane.  
"Seneca please." He said to his friend and turned then back towards the mole. "We don´t differ from the people you dealing with usually. And besides." Scratch pulled a wad of cash out of the inner pocket of his coat. "It won´t be your disadvantage."

The small eyes of the mole widened and became twice as big. The same hand that showed them the way out a few seconds before now closed the door. Quick as a bunny ran Czagek past Scratch and Seneca into a room of his apartment. His reaction made Scratch shake his head. Everybody has his price, that was sad but true. However, in this special case it was quiet helpful.

Scratch and Seneca followed Czagek into a stuffy little room that was full of computers. The whirring of the CPU fans was almost deafening and the blinking of the lights was no view for epileptics.  
"Welcome in my realm." Shouted Czagek through the noise. "It´s small but, it´s mine."

"Yeah… nice." Screamed Scratch back a bit overwhelmed by all the noise and the lights.  
"So what is it? What do you want me to hack?"  
Scratch handed the mole a little note.  
" ?" Czagek raised an eyebrow. "A streaming service? Why?"

"I don´t want you to destroy the whole platform. But there are certain information about me that… let´s say they shouldn´t exist anymore."  
"Aha…" meant Czagek shrugging and began to work. "By the way…" he called from the keyboard. "To whom do I have the honor of speaking?"

"Scratch…"  
Czagek stopped working as he heard the name. "Scratch? The drug lord?!"  
"Yep. And as you will see soon on this little website was my former name Dudley Puppy."  
"Why do you tell him that?!" Seneca shouted from the side and gave Scratch a shocked look.

"Because he will find out anyway. You have to know, five years ago I thought I gave a man a lot of money to destroy all evidences of my old life. He did that pretty well but he stored a few information because he wanted to squeeze more money out of me. Anyway, what happened then is clear I think. I killed that guy but… that information still exists. And that´s why I´m here."

"Well, well…" laughed Czagek suddenly. "If it´s about that it will…" before he could finish his sentence Scratch pulled another wad of money out of his coat.  
"Are we speaking the same language now?"

"Yes." Grinned Czagek widely and continued working on his keyboard. I didn´t take much time until he raised his voice again. "Oh cute."  
"What?"

"How the server is protected. In a few minute your history should be destroyed. Oh and another thing. Someone else is trying to get access to this part of the server I have to delete."  
"And who." The question Scratch asked was more obligatory than really interested.  
"Someone from Petropolis… Keswick."

"I knew it" sighed Scratch. Keswick was still trying to get hard evidences that he is Scratch. The only thing Keswick had was what Scratch once told them in the interrogation room. And this conversation was not even recorded! So actually they had nothing. It would be a big triumph if Keswick could hack this server.

Again Scratch reach into his pocket and pulled the last wad of money out. "Can you do me another favor?"  
"And what?" asked Czagek deepened into his work.  
"Destroy the hardware of this other hacker."  
"I had done this even if you hadn´t asked." Smirked the mole and continued hacking.

Scratch and Seneca watched Czagek quiet a long time until the little guy finally turned around and said. "I´m done."  
"Done?" probed Scratch unbelieving.  
"Yep." Confirmed Czagek confident. "The data is deleted and the hardware of this Keswick is now just worth the metal it´s made from."

"Excellent." Called Scratch gladly. "I think I don´t have to tell you that you we never been here and that you never saw what you saw?"  
"That´ll coast a bit more."

"Don´t worry you´ll see twice as much as you have, tomorrow." Meant Scratch smiling. After a short hand shake between him and Czagek, Senca and Scratch left the building.  
"Are you sure about that?" muttered the gaunt lion as they both were back on their way to the car.

"You know, I don´t really trust this guy but I think he´s corruptible. And people who follow the flow of money are mostly predictable. Pecunia non olet."  
"I don´t mean that" made Seneca clear. "I mean if you´re sure that you burn all evidences of your  
ex-existence?"

"To be honest, it´s not something I really like to do. I think it´s better for everyone in my past if Dudley Puppy stops existing and that there are no traces that connect me with him." Even if there was sadness in his words felt Scratch somehow released that the last strings that connected him with Dudley Puppy were cut now.

Finally it was just him who would decide who he would tell his story. Now at that moment, it were just a few people who knew his secret. Bill Young, the culprit of the Petropolis massacre. His old flame, Kitty Katswell. The little guy from the lab at T.U.F.F., Keswick. Parva and Seneca. Those five people knew his secret and only one of them would give this secret away.

But this person hopefully learned his lesson by now. Kitty wouldn´t say anything. She just didn´t want to be concerned with anything concerning him. Bill Young said nothing during the last seven years, there was no reason for him to start talking. And Parva and Seneca, well he trusted them. No it was more, since Nefarius death those two became his little family.

There was this strange German lion who took the position of the uncle in the family. Somehow like a brother and friend to the head of the family. And there was the young girl that was the daughter in this family. Scratch supported her with money and helped her to get into the school she wanted to, to get a good qualification.

Parva wanted to get a normal job and a normal life and Scratch and Seneca helped her with that. That´s what a family does.  
Every time Scratch thought about this little family he thought about this releasing feeling he had after he told them who he really was, that his name was Dudley Puppy and that he did that all just to avenge his mother and the victims of the Petropolis massacre.

He always reminisced with joy Parva´s word after she and Seneca listened attentively to his story. "Scratch, your past doesn´t matter for us. You aren´t Dudley Puppy for us, you are Scratch. We are a team. We are your team. I stay. And I think Seneca will stay, too."

Scratch still didn´t really understand the reason why they stayed. But in the end it didn´t matter for him. He was just glad they were here.  
A car ride and a long but not unpleasant silence between him and Seneca later, they arrived at a small wooden house which was located on a meadow somewhere in the middle of nowhere.

Around the house no city was visible, just the lush green meadows which were stroked tenderly by a soft wind. The whole scenery had a slumberous effect on everyone who is subjected to it. But the really mean thing about this was that even if you get tired, you never get tired of looking.

So these meadows were some kind of natural hypnagogue. You start looking and then fall into a trance like state.  
Scratch felt the meadows affecting him as he walked small gravel path to the house. He was pretty glad as he reached the front door without falling asleep. But before he could open it somebody else did that for him.

"Surprise!" shouted the young cat girl that was wearing her typical blue jeans and black leather jacket. The only thing that was new on her was that she wore her brown hair open.  
"What are you doing here?" Said Scratch surprised and gave Parva hug.

"Well, I heard about your little disagreement with a bunch of FBI agents. So I skipped a day of school and took the next plane to Germany. And after a little dispute with a taxi driver, who´s English was… almost not existing, I finally arrived here."

"You shouldn´t skip class." Meant Scratch sternly after hearing Parva´s travel story.  
"Seriously? Aren´t you glad to see me?"  
"Of course kiddo." Again Scratch gave Parva another hug, then he entered together with Seneca the house.

"Nice house." Said Scratch as he saw the modern furnishing of the house that looked so old from outside. It wasn´t big but it had really everything from a refrigerator with integrated T.V. over tables that looked like they were stolen from a spaceship to a T.V. that was thinner than a finger.

"Thanks." Mumbled Seneca and pointed with his finger at two chair behind the counter in the kitchen, what probably meant 'Please sit down'.  
"Beer? Wine?" asked Seneca Scratch as he sat down.

"In vino veritas… so give me the wine." Laughed Scratch.  
"And you?" Seneca has turned to Parva but before the girl could answer Scratch intervened.  
"No, she is too young!"

"Not in this country." And with a triumphing grin Seneca handed the girl a beer.  
Shrugging eyed Parva the beer and giggled. "I could get used to that."  
Scratch however just swung the wine in his glass around and shook his head. "Heu me miserum" (Wehe mir Armem)

"Cry me a river." Sneered Seneca and opened himself a bottle of beer.  
They sat together for a while. Joked, told each other stories and just enjoyed each other´s company. And the emptier their drinks got, the profounder their talk got. At least between Seneca and Scratch. Parva on the other hand was more than greatly influenced by the alcohol.

"You knooow what? I loooove you twoo." She slurred totally drunken. "Not whaaat you think. I zeeee you two more like my family. And az a family… I loooove you two."  
"How many beers she had?" whispered Scratch to Seneca.  
"One."

Now a bit confused grabbed Scratch Parva´s empty bottle and studied the label. "Seneca, my German isn´t the best but… I think that´s a stout. It got nine percent. Why do you give her that?!"  
The only answer he received from Seneca was a finger that pointed on Parva who now slept on the counter.

"To your question." Laughed Senca suddenly exuberantly. "I did this because we get some time to talk now."  
"Yeah okay but was it really necessary to drug her? I mean she isn´t really used to alcohol." A bit worried checked Scratch if Parva was still breathing.

"The kids these days cannot even stand a bit alcohol. Ich trauere um diese Generation!" Seneca sounded like one of these old man who complain about anything. These guys who always say that everything was better back then.

"Yeah, whatever. I hope you don´t want to talk about that?"  
"Nope. What I wanted to talk about is Mathew Richards. What you want to do if you got him? If you got the information out of him?"

"Well…" meant Scratch pensively looking at the ceiling. "I thought that the information would lead me to my next…"  
"That´s not a plan!" shouted Seneca out and beat his fist so hard on the counter that Parva moved a bit. "This kind of approach kill Nefarius! Dammit Scratch, what happened?! I can remember that you once planned missions back then so detailed that you predicted every step of our enemies. I want this Scratch back!"

"You ask me what happened?" Scratch refilled his glass and took a sip before he continued. "My past, that´s what happened." He said pressing a mouthful of wine down his throat. "This whole thing with the massacre and Young and so on. Also this fear… the fear that you get when you get so close to your goal? To everything you ever wanted to reach? The fear to fail on the last step?"

"Ah, don´t give me this shit!" retorted Seneca and knocked back the rest of his beer. "You actually failed at the point Nefarius died but nevertheless you continued. You maybe had the fear and all of this but you got your shit together and brought it to an end. Your heart, your courage, was still fixed to that aim. But your brain was on this mission somehow totally turned off. And it wasn´t the fear or Young that turned it off. It wasn´t your whole past. Just one woman that disconcerted the living legend so much that he began to make the stupidest mistakes. A femme fatale called Kitty Katswell of which you´re still a fond of." Seneca ended his explanations with opening another bottle of beer and giving Scratch a stern look.

"What do you want to hear from me now? Yes? Or No? Both would be right. I was confused seeing Kitty again but no that what we have is history." The gaze that Scratch gave his wine glass after saying this was for Seneca the confirmation of the theory he had.

"What I want to hear from you is the truth. Unflattering and complete."  
"The truth?" Scratch now didn´t refill his glass, he took the bottle and began to empty it. "Okay, here is the truth. I want her back! Every inch of my body wants her back! I get nervous when she´s around and act like a complete idiot. God dammit, it´s like back then at T.U.F.F.! I just cannot think when she´s around. And of course I know that there is no chance for me to get her back. I destroyed too much. Sometimes, I wish I had a time machine to travel back and say my younger I that he shouldn´t leave. That he should stay with her and forget about his revenge. I would tell him, no command him to become happy with her… Is that enough or do you want to hear more?"

"Thank you that´s enough. I want to talk about your plan now. Or if you really don´t have one, we´ll make one."  
The fast change of subjects surprised Scratch a bit but he was relatively glad about the fact that he hadn´t to talk about his feelings any longer. "Well, I need the information of Richards first. When we got them the next step would be to interrogate the four conspirators. What will hopefully lead us to the head to all of this. By the way, before you ask. I have a concrete plan how I approach this whole thing to get the information out of them and give them what they deserve. So, enough plan for you?"

"Yep, kind of and I think enough for a start." Nodded Seneca friendly and began to rummage under the counter. As he came up again he was holding some kind of file in his hand. "This here is a little gift for you from me. You´ll get it after you promise me two things. First, plan your next steps like the smart Scratch would do, and second, don´t let this Kitty confuse you again. What you two had is over. Treat the memories you two had with respect and so do it with her but that´s all you owe her. Got it?"

"Uhm… Okay. I promise. But what kind of gift do you have?"  
Seneca handed his friend the file who eagerly began to read through it. "Seems like it´s Christmas again." Laughed Scratch impressed as he finished reading. In this file contained one piece of information Scratch was longing for so long.

The whereabouts of Mathew Richards. Scratch had expected much but he had never expected that Richard was imprisoned in the Petropolis prison. That was wonderful, it was like hunting prey that can´t move. Also this file contained two interesting side notes. One was that Kitty went on a vacation and had a stopover in Frankfurt tomorrow and the second was that Jessica Spotrunner was temporally chief of T.U.F.F..

Scratch never had the chance to get to know her but he still knew that Kitty hated her.  
"Interessting. Do I want to know how you got them?" asked Scratch and received a head-shaking as answer.

"Okay, then… I have to book a flight back to Petropolis and…" he interrupted his sentence because Seneca held a ticket for a flight back to Petropolis under his nose. "You thought about everything, huh?"

"Yep." Confirmed Seneca grinning.  
"Hey wait…" Scratch suddenly said as he took a closer look at the tickets. "Frankfurt airport?"  
"I said treat her with respect. I think it would be respectful to if you tell her that you´ll mess up her city. But choose your words wisely!"

"Thanks man." Laughed Scratch and gave Seneca a half sober hug. "By the way… it´s really strange that you talk so much."  
"Don´t worry." Winked the lion happily. "When we´re back in your country I´ll be the stoic, silent guy again."


	4. Still, disgusting burgers

"WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED HERE?!" Jessica immediately ran to the lab as she heard the loud electrical discharge and the explosion and was confronted with a field of rubble that looked like it was taken out of a science fiction movie.

Burning circuit boards, sharps of test tubes and the stench of burnt plastic filled the room´s air. In the middle of all of this stood a small, burnt but apart from that unhurt looking figure. With the face full of soot and the eyes full of hate the burnt dwarf began to raise his voice.

"What happened?!" he asked spitting out a mouthful dirt. "We were attacked!"  
"Attacked?! When, how and who?" Jessica was completely confused. That didn´t make sense. Who should do that and why?

"When, a minute ago. How, a hacker attack over the internet. Who… that´s an interesting question. That I´ll answer you when I have cleaned up myself." Furiously tramped past Jessica and felt her alone in the destroyed lab.

Still confused she grabbed a fire extinguisher and began to put out the little fires. "This can´t be true." She mumbled as she released the foam out of the red cylinder. "How long am I chief? Seven hours maybe? And already shit hit the fan. This can´t be true. And this can´t be my fault. I mean I never screw things up like this. I´m better. That is definitely the fault of someone else."

She threw the extinguisher into the corner as she has put the last fire out and walked back to her office. While she muttered angrily on the whole way. "Someone will bleed for that."  
With a bang she shut the door and sat down behind the table which was still packed with Kitty´s stuff.

Jessica hadn´t the time yet to redecorate the desk, what she mostly did until now was gathering information about Scratch. This turned out to be a waste of time. Her sources knew nothing about the guy. Actually she heard most of the time the sentence "What?! He´s really existing?" from her sources.

It frustrated her that he she was stuck. And what frustrated her more that the only information she had was collected by Kitty. All this frustration mixed with the anger in her and created just more anger. Not much longer and she would have a fit of rage.

That could sometimes happen, especially when things didn´t go like they should. Jessica wasn´t someone with a balanced personality.  
She had to have some kind of catharsis before she would destroy the whole office. The empty picture frame on her desk hit her eye just in the right time.

She threw the frame at the wall and felt the release as the glass cracked quietly. Immediately she felt much better. The only thing that was annoying that she had to pick up the sharps of the broken frame now.

Sighing she stood up from her desk and began to clean up. Cautiously she picked up the pieces of broken glass and collected them in her hand. As they were all gathered she picked up the frame and carried everything back to her desk. But something was strange about that frame and that wasn´t just the fact that it was empty.

Jessica wondered all the time why there was an empty picture frame on Kitty´s desk. No, what was really strange was that this thing really had photo in it. But the photo was turned around so everyone could just see the white backside of it and would think that the frame was empty.

Jessica turned the photo around. It was a snapshot of Kitty while capturing Snaptrap. Also a white dog with blue eyes and a black shirt was on it.

"I had never thought that Kitty kept this." A voice suddenly said from the other side of the table. Jessica was so startled from that, that she almost fell from her chair. It was Keswick. The little guy somehow managed it to sneak into her office without making a sound.

"Geez Keswick!" She cursed. "Don´t you knock?"  
"Sorry chief." Meant Keswick scratching the back of his head. "I usually n..n..never knock when Kitty is here."

"Yeah but she isn´t here! So knock!" angry about the fact that Keswick startled her so much she let her gaze wander back to the picture. "Who is that guy? Do I have to know him?" She asked with strict tone and poked with her finger at the white dog in the photo.

"That is agent D..D..Dudley Puppy. Well, ex-agent to be correctly." Keswick´s expression darkened a lot as he said Dudley´s name.  
"Ex-agent? What happened? He got fired?" Jessica now averted her gaze from the picture and looked at Keswick.

"Nope. W..W..Worse." He said shaking his head. "For us he´s dead."  
"Oh… sorry to hear that. What happened?"  
"He got stabbed in Moscow. His mortal remains were then burnt in the fire of an old forge. After the ash was cold nothing was born out of the ash that was pretty enough that you could call it a phoenix." Again Keswick´s expression darkened.

"What?" Keswick´s last sentence confused Jessica much. Either he tried to hide something behind this cryptic phrase or it was just a gathering meaningless words.  
"Nothing… we don´t talk about that usually. For Kitty´s sake. Even if I think she should do something."  
"For Kitty´s sake?" Now, Keswick has aroused her interest. She loved to hear everything what was about her rival.

"Yeah, she and Dudley were a c..c..couple until this hell began… I don´t think it´s okay for h..h..her if I tell you her whole story. You can ask her when she´s back."  
"Oh come on." Begged Jessica. "Please."

"No." meant Keswick sternly. "And I´m not here to talk with you about Kitty´s p..p..private life. I´m here because of the attack. So to the f..f..facts." He sat down on the chair on the other side of the desk and began his explanations. "Okay, you have to know that I was i..i..involved in some… let´s call it barely legal actions…"

"Barely legal actions?" interrupted Jessica raising her eyebrow.  
"The less you know… Anyway. I just try to bypass the f..f..firewall of a server as I received a counterattack. However, this c..c..counterattack didn´t come from this server… that´s at least what I could recognize before my hardware was blown up."

"So if it didn´t come from the administration of the server… who was it then?"  
"Really good question." Nodded Keswick. "I have no idea… but I t..t..think this is all related to him…"  
"Him?" probed Jessica interested and moved a bit closer to the scientist who began to writhe.

He seemed to be in some kind of dilemma. As if he was knew something but didn´t trust her enough to tell it even if it lay heavily on his mind.  
"Yes… h..h..him." Keswick stammered Keswick slowly.  
"Who is 'him'?"

"Ah… no… you wouldn´t b..b..believe that."  
"Mr. Keswick, spit it out!" The anger in Jessica´s voice began to increase what brought Keswick to a decision.  
"Okay, okay. I think it was Scratch." Meant Keswick trying to pacify her.

"What? Scratch? Really?" That was interesting, the little guy seemed to know something about Scratch, her way out of here. And now she wanted to know that, too.  
"Yes, Scratch. You can call him my… p..p..personal project. I´m collecting information about him to get enough information for an indictment and also to uncover his real identity." And then he added in his mind. "…or to at least prove that he is Dudley."

"And do you already got something?" Jessica tried not to sound too excited about that even if it was hard for her.  
"Nope… But a pal from the FBI said he got something for me. Something with that we could really use against him. And by the sound of his voice the last time I talked to him, it´s something big. Something with what we could get him on the chair… But why are you asking?"

Jessica opened the drawer and handed Kitty´s file about Scratch. "Because I found this."  
"I s..s..see… And what do you expect from that, chief?"  
"A promotion." She meant baldly.

"Hm… I think our goals are c..c..convergent. May I make a suggestion? Let´s work t..t..together to put this bastards behind bars."  
"And why? What do you expect from that?"  
"I have some personal reason to h..h..hunt him. And you should work with me because I have a few more i..i..information about him. So…" Keswick offered her his little hand to shake it. "Deal?"

Even if she believed if she could trust this little guy and even if she knew that he didn´t really trust her she shook his hand. "Deal. So what do you know?"  
"I don´t know if it is i..i..important but… Scratch travels through the country and s..s..searches for a guy called Mathew Richards. And now guess the name of prisoner 1739 who is sitting in Petropolis prison."

"Mathew Richards?"  
"Ding ding ding…" called Keswick loudly. "The candidate g..g..gets 100 points."  
"So you want to use Richards as a bail for Scratch?"

"And the c..c..candidate gets 100 points more. Exactly. What I´m planning is that we transfer Richards to T.U.F.F. and then we leave the door open for Scratch and wait."  
"That sounds good." Admitted Jessica. "But what if he senses danger?"

"Don´t worry, this guy is s..s..so keen on getting this guy that he would risk anything." Keswick stood up from the chair and stretched. "Okay, I will go now and clean up my l..l..lab." Then he left without saying anything more the office.

Jessica didn´t know why but this new partnership somehow left a bad taste in her mouth, like this plan Keswick suggested. She didn´t know much about Scratch but she didn´t believe that it would be so easy to lure him into this trap. But she had no other choice than trying it.

Meanwhile on the other side of the globe in the waiting hall of the Frankfurt airport Kitty Katswell fought against sleep. She had a six hour long stopover here from 11pm to 5am. Now it was 3am and she was really tired.

Desperately she tried to keep her eyes open until she finally decided to give in and take a little nap. Just a short one so she could think straightforward again. This damn tiredness lay like a stone on her. So she leaned back on the hard iron bench she sat and pushed the weight off.

Her eyes closed and opened immediately again. She suddenly felt more tired and the weight on her at least doubled. And to make matters worse she felt how here head began to hurt. With her through the tiredness shrank eyes she gazed at her watch. 4am. That couldn´t be the truth.

Did she really sleep for an hour? Sighing "I should have stayed awake" she leaned back forward and rubbed her eyes.  
"Yes, that´s true." Kitty whirled startled around as she heard the voice from beside of her. And she was almost fallen from the bench as she saw who sat there.

"Dudley?! What the heck?!" She shouted.  
"Calm down." Laughed the dog with the baldhead and the square glasses. "Don´t behave like I´m trying to kill you."

"Well, I´m not sure about that."  
"Kitty…" Replied Scratch shocked. "I would never do something like that."  
"So, what then?"

With shivering legs and almost just with the help of his cane Scratch heaved himself from the bench. "Let´s have a little lunch, I´ll tell you there."  
"Dudley, what happened?!" gasped Kitty as she saw her former partner walking with a stick.

"I had an argue with a few bullets… and… let´s say they had pretty good arguments." He explained while he limped down the hallway. "But it´s just temporarily. Soon I can walk without that."  
For a short moment Kitty thought about not following him, but even if she felt this indifference rising up there was another part in her. It was her curious side. And this side couldn´t resist following him.

So she stood up and followed Scratch down the hallway until they sat down in a tiny fast food restaurant. While he shuffled to the counter he pointed at a table in the darkest corner. A nice remote place where they could discuss everything in private.

Kitty gave a short laugh as she sat down on one of the chairs. This place was like Dudley´s new personality, this Scratch. Dark, dirty and with an angst-inducing aura. Kitty had to admit that he even scares her a bit. But not because of this just mentioned aura, it was more fact how the childish, friendly dog that she once loved became a vindictive malicious monster.

Balancing a blue tray on one hand Scratch brought a pile of in paper wrapped burgers to the table.  
"I know you love these disgusting burgers from snap in the box but… these are pretty bad too." He laughed and sat down on the opposite side of the table.

"So?"  
"That reminds me somehow of the last conversation we had. In the interrogation room."  
"I remember." Replied Kitty coldly.  
"I suppose you don´t want to talk about old times…" Scratch giggled but immediately chocked on his laughter as he saw the cold and emotionless stare that she gave him.

"Old times? I´m just trying to forget them. You know… the time before you returned I tried to keep these times in a good memory. But after you showed your true colors… I try to forget. And you know what." Kitty leaned forward and put an evil grin on her lips. "That was the best thing I could do." The curiosity she felt before turned into hope that she could give it to him straight.

"Ouch" meant Scratch trying to sound as unimpressed as possible. Kitty just tried to hurt him and he wouldn´t show any sign that her attempts bore fruits. "Quit this polemic."  
"Oh, okay." Kitty leaned back again and added sarcastically "But just because you used the word polemic."

"Kitty I´m not your enemy!"  
"So?" she called out with an angry voice. "Because you hurt me more than all of our so called enemies together. More than Snaptrap, more than Birdbrain, more than the Chameleon, more than…"

"I got your point!" intervened Scratch tensed.  
"YOU DIDN´T EVEN ROUGHLY GET MY POINT!" she shouted and rolled up the sleeve of her pullover. A thin long scar extended over her slender sleeve. Scratch backed off from the healed wound like he saw a ghost. He understood immediately what happened and just imagining that made him sick.  
"Kitty… I…"

"Ha…" she laughed bitterly out. "Finally I got the chance to see the famous Scratch speechless. I think I´ve seen everything now."  
Scratch didn´t answer, he just continued staring at her wrists until Kitty got rid of that and changed sighing the topic. "Dudley, you wanted to tell me something? Then do it. I want to spend the following hours until the boarding without you around."

"It´s just… I…" Scratch couldn´t form a clear sentence.  
"Something about your revenge right? You want to tell me now that you gathered new information and that you continue your revenge? I suppose in Petropolis?"

"Uh…Uhm…yes."  
"You know what?" Kitty stood up and got ready to leave. "I don´t give a damn. I know that I can´t stop you. I know that you won´t hurt anyone else then your target. And I know that there is someone in charge who will deal with you. You´re Jessica´s problem now."

Scratch´s jaw dropped as he heard that. The Kitty he remembered had never said something like that.  
"Kitty, I can´t believe what you´re saying! You´ve been an idealist! What happened?"  
"Easy." Shrugged Kitty. "I took you as an example. You changed your ideals… so why can´t I?" Then she turned around and left the little restaurant.  
Scratch stayed back and just stared. Every meeting with Kitty made him realize more what he had destroyed. And it was always hard to digest that.

**-Well, Scratch knows now that Kitty had a really hard time too... finally. Well, hope you enjoyed that chapter. Next chapter soon, see you ;D-**


	5. His daughter

"It´s been a while." Thought Scratch striding nostalgically into the old house in a suburb of Petropolis with a petrol can in his hand. Already when he opened the door this familiar smell reached his nostrils and caused a firework of memories and flashbacks in his mind.

The smell of a once happy house which was empty now. His sense of smell wasn´t the best anymore after this little incident in Moscow has happened, however he was still able to recognize every nuance of this smell.

While he pulled the air through his nose into his lungs he permanently saw memories flashing up in front of his mind´s eye. How they had lunch in the kitchen, how his Mom scolded him for coming home late, even if he was already 21 years old, and many other precious memories.

Scratch felt like somebody was pushing a knife slowly into his chest the longer he breathed the smell in. He couldn´t endure being in this his house. Since the day of the massacre he hadn´t entered it again. Why should he? Nothing bound him to this house anymore. Nothing except the memory.

His way through the house led him upstairs first, to his mother´s former room. The old martial bed was still made properly. It looked exactly like the day his mother left the house for the last time. Nothing changed, except the thick layer of dust which formed in the last seven years.

Scratch looked around for a while. Again all this memories rushed like powerful waves through his mind. And he felt the knife that cut into his chest even harder now. A part of him wished he had never entered the house.

Determined, and without deigning another look to anything else in the room, Scratch walked to the little bedside table and opened the drawer of it. A heavy photo album was the only thing that the drawer contained. And it was exactly the thing he was looking for. If one thing should survive the thing that happens next then it shall be this pictured family chronic.

Scratch brushed the dust from the book and a smile sneaked up his face. "We also had good times." He thought as he left the room. Of course there were good times. Actually a lot more than bad. But the evil is a powerful force. One bad thing can cast a shadow over thousands of good things.

On his way back to the basement Scratch stopped at the door of his old room. Like in his mother´s room nothing has changed here but in a contrary to her old room his bed was unmade and his room was unbelievable untidy. A lot of black shirts lay scattered on the floor.

He didn´t take them with him as he left. Back then he just left with the things he wore and all the money he had in cash. He didn´t need more and he didn´t want more. It was his intention to leave everything, so he left everything back.

In a retrospective it was of course pretty stupid to leave all his clothes back. Now he didn´t care anymore, he had completely new wardrobe which also included pants. So in the end leaving all behind was a win for his style. A last time gazed Scratch at the pile of laundry then he turned away from it and walked down the stairs into the kitchen.

He put the heavy petrol can, he carried around all the time, on the table, snatched one of the dusty chairs and sat down. Lost in old memories unscrewed Scratch the top of the petrol can and let the fuel fumes reach his nose.

He didn´t know in that moment if it were these fumes or just the dusty kitchen that brought up an old memory from the depths of his mind. Not just any memory of course, his mind played a special scene from his past. Like a movie he saw his mother sitting on the table. She stared pensively into a cup of tea as Scratch´s former self entered the room.

"Hi Mom! You´re looking forward to the parade?" called his older-ego, Dudley Puppy, happily to his mother. Peg Puppy averted here gaze from her cup. Her eyes distorted to small slits as she spotted her son coming into the house. "Where have you been?!" she hissed angrily.

"Uhm… at my new apartment." answered Dudley obviously confused.  
"New apartment?! You haven´t told me that!"  
"Yes I have!" meant Dudley defensively. "I told you a month ago that I move together with Kitty. But you just started to get worked up! And what do you think where I was the last month?!"

"What you are still together with this cat?! I thought I forbid you to meet her!" shouted Peg shocked.  
"I know. And I said that I don´t give a damn if you forbid it or not." Said Dudley calmly. He forced himself not to smile in this moment. He didn´t know why but he enjoyed this little rebellion against his mother.

"Dudley Puppy!" yelled Peg. "How dare you to not obey to your mother! For the last time, you´ll not meet this cat ever again."  
"And I tell you for the last time that I don´t care. I love her." Peg almost went through the roof as she heard that.

"You love HER?!" she screamed. "This slut?!"  
"DON´T YOU DARE CALLING HER LIKE THAT!" it burst out of Dudley.  
"I CALL THIS BITCH HOW I WANT!" screamed Peg back and glared angry at her soon.

Dudley bore the look of his mother and replied with an equally angry one. Both stared at each other for a while until Peg raised her voice. "I want a decision Dudley. Kitty or me."  
Dudley backed shocked off his mother. "You can´t make me do that." He gasped.

"I can." Meant Peg firmly.  
"I love you Mom… but no. I will not leave Kitty just because you want me too. It´s my life and I´m old enough to make my own decisions." Dudley turned around and walked out of the kitchen. However, he was still able to hear his mother saying. "Yeah you are… and you just made one."

Scratch watched in silent the last conversation he had with his mother then he stood up and picked the patrol can up again. "I wish the whole thing had another end Mom. I really do." He said before he began to spill the gasoline on the ground.

Scratch did that very carefully and not stopped until every centimeter of the basement, that was necessary for setting the house on fire, was soaked with the easy inflammable fluid. He also poured fuel on the little path that led to the sidewalk. As he was done and the can empty he took a last look at his old home. His hand glided into the inner of his coat and pulled a lighter out. "Today I plant a new flower on a fertile ground."

With his thumb he moved the flint on the cheap plastic lighter. A little flame was created which rose quickly as it came in touch with the fuel on the ground. A carpet made from fire spread over the little path and entered the house. It didn´t take a long time as the first black smoke left the house. Within a short time the whole building was finally embraced by the flames.

"Ash is fertile ground." Whispered Scratch as he watched how his youth burnt down. The view wasn´t as pleasant as he imagined. He thought it would be kind of releasing seeing the house burn and knowing that now all bridges to his old life, knowing that no one could identify him as Dudley Puppy except those who already know… But he thought wrong.  
The sudden vibration of his smartphone in his pocket distracted him from the fire. "What is it?" he yelled annoyed in the speaker.

"Scratch, this is Parva. I got some news about Richards."  
"Okay, then spit it out." He growled.  
"Seems like someone is angry, huh?" laughed Parva. "Alright straight to the point. Richards is now in T.U.F.F. arrest. The new chief… Spotrunner I think, ordered that. Call me crazy but I think that´s a trap."

"Oh come on…" sighed Scratch annoyed. "Of course that´s a trap. And that will make the whole thing more complicated."  
"Right." Replied Parva. "Any ideas?"

"Hmm..." Scratch scratched the back of his head in thoughts. He needed an idea and that fast. T.U.F.F. is maybe trying to lure him into a trap but they are showing a weakness by presenting him Richards on a silver plate and he didn´t know how long they would do that. A bit hopeless he stared into the flames.

"Uhm… Scratch?" Parva called a bit worried from the speaker as Scratch hadn´t replied for a while.  
"I got it!" shouted Scratch suddenly. "But I need a few things for that."  
"And what?" Scratch could hear in the background how Parva got a piece of paper and a pencil.

"The information about T.U.F.F.´s fire protection and the number of this special effects guy Seneca knows. Oh and call Snaptrap, Catastrophe and Rabies, Birdbrain, the Chameleon… and even F.L.O.P.P.. Say them that I need their help and that it wouldn´t be to their disadvantage. I think the best is gathering them all in a restaurant or something… bring them to Snap in the box."

"Interesting… So burning this house gave you some ideas, huh?"  
"Yes, it does."  
"I suppose you don´t want the special effects guy´s number because you want to date him, do you?" giggled Parva mischievously. "So you plan something special?"  
"Yep, something really special." Said Scratch and hung up.

"WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON HERE?!" A voice suddenly drowned the noise of the flames that raged in the house. That confused Scratch, he hadn´t expected any specters for his little barbeque. The figure that stood in the shadows was a bit taller than he was.

By his voice and stature he could tell that it was a male dog. And there was something strange about this guy. Scratch could have sworn that he knew this voice from somewhere.  
"WHO ARE YOU?!" The voice screamed as it recognized him.

"Orcus, amicus." Scratch pulled out his gun and cocked it. The figure froze with terror as it saw the gun. It put up its hands and called with a creaking noise. "Please don´t shoot me."  
"That depends on a few factors. For example if I like your face, so step into the light and let me look at it."

"Okay…" meant the voice and stepped closer to him.  
In the second the orange light of the fire illuminated the face the voice belonged to Scratch knew from where he knew this voice. How could he even forget the dog with the white fur, a big black nose and big blue eyes. The dog that looked so similar to him and not because he had a plastic surgery.

"Stan?!"  
Stan Puppy, Scratch´s older brother, stood with his hands in the air in front of the bald head canine with the square glasses.  
"From where do you know my name?" replied Stan terrified by the gun.

"That doesn´t matter now. How did you come here?"  
"By car… a have a rental…" he stammered.  
"Good get in, you drive." With his gun always aimed at his brother Scratch followed Stan to the car and got in.

"Drive me to Clark´s bridge. You know where this is?" growled Scratch questioning.  
"Yeah… I grew up here. I know where this is." breathed the white dog fearfully.  
"Me too." Giggled Scratch, it amused him that his brother didn´t cognize him.

But it didn´t make him wonder. The years they haven´t seen each other he had changed even more than the ravages of time could have ever change him. But this also offered him a unique chance. He could pull his brothers leg.

His chance to take revenge for all the times Stan pranked him in their childhood.  
"…but I don´t live here anymore." Continued Scratch after a whole while. "Too much bad blood to stay here long. But who am I telling that, right Stan?"

"Uhm… Mister…" stammered Stan. "What are you going to do to me?"  
"What do you think?" Scratch waved his gun around in front of his brother´s face and demanded him to park the car and get out of it. They were on Clark´s bridge now, a small remote bridge beyond the city limits that led over the narrowest part of the Petropolis river.

Almost like he was accepting his fate Stan walked to the edge of the bridge and turned to Scratch.  
"So this is it." Sighed Scratch suppressing the smile that tried to conquer his face.  
"Please. Sir…don´t kill me! I don´t want to die!" started Stan. "I have a little daughter, what will she do without me? She needs me. Please… I…"

"Don´t you think that I haven´t heard such things before?" The cold barrel of a gun was pressed on Stan´s forehead. "Any last words?"  
"Please don´t kill me."  
"…Okay." Laughed Scratch manically and holstered his gun.

"What?" Stan stared at Scratch with his mouth wide open. "But… how…what…who…why?!"  
"Oh that´s easy, I usually not kill family members. Even I have limits." Scratch grabbed his brother and pulled him into a hug.

"Uh… Pardon? Family member? Are we somehow related?"  
"I´m a little insulted now." Giggled Scratch. "You still don´t recognize your own brother?"  
"What?" Stan pushed Scratch away from him. "You´re not Dudley!"  
"Yes I am."

"No. You´re not! First, you don´t look like Dudley. Second, you don´t sound like Dudley. And third my brother wouldn´t do something like you just did to me." Meant Stan stamping angrily on the ground.  
"I once thought something very similar. Then my brother pulled a prank on me on my first year in middle school… At least Mom grounded you for a month for that."

Again Stan´s jaw opened widely. Only someone who was involved in that could have known that. Especially the exact time how long he was grounded. "Really?! Dudley?!"  
"Yes." Roared Scratch with delight. "Please, apologize that I scared you. Call me an opportunist but I saw my chance to take revenge for these old stories."

"I should beat the shit out of you for that!" shouted Stan furiously.  
"You could." Smirked Scratch. "But I think you would lose this fight. Instead of that we could get back into the car and we speak a bit. I think we haven´t seen each other for more than seven years."

Without deigning another look at his angrily snorting brother he walked to the car and placed himself on the passenger´s seat. His brother would calm down after a few minutes in the fresh air, Scratch was sure about that. Back in their childhood it was the same. If Stan got worked up about something he always went out for a little walk and came back more relaxed.

Scratch prediction came true after a few minutes as Stan flopped down on the driver´s seat.  
"I can´t believe you just did that to me." He said igniting the engine.  
"I can´t believe that you put once put itching powder in my pants." Replied Scratch baldly.  
"Ha! You´re really still angry because of this?"

"Yes" confirmed Scratch. "You ruined pants for me forever."  
"Dudley, what…" instead of finishing that sentence Stan pointed on Dudley´s face.  
"That is a long… long story. It began with pain and sorrow… but the end is still unwritten. Besides, it´s maybe better you know not too much about it. I would prefer that we talk about you. How´s little Jenny? The last time I saw her she fit into a shoe box."

"Wonderful! She´s doing wonderful!" said Stan with the smile of a proud father. For a short moment he reminded Scratch of Seneca as he talked about his children in this strip club. "She´s ten now. And the best in her class. You should see how eager she is to go to school every morning. And she likes to dance. I have enrolled her for a ballet course…"

Inevitably arose in Scratch´s mind the pictures of the strippers that danced on the poles. Shuddering he forced these snapshot back into the part of his mind where they came from.  
"… Anyway, enough of my wonderful little sweetheart. What were you doing the last years? I knew that you were together with that cat the last time we saw each other."

Scratch sighed sadly and looked out of the window. "We broke up."  
"Really?" meant Stan wondering. "But you were such a nice couple. I know Mom didn´t like it but she also didn´t like my wife. So, who cares?"

"It wasn´t because of Mom… or at least not just because of that. But after her death I needed some time to clear my mind, you know?"  
"I know… after my wife´s death…"

"Wait, Angela is dead?!" it burst out of Scratch.  
"Yes. Suicide. Angela was depressive." Stan´s hands, which were holding the steering wheel, now clang to it firmly. "She wrote a letter to explain but… I just don´t want get engrossed into that. What I wanted to say is that I also needed some time to get my head clear. I gave Jenny to Angela´s parents and just drove around. For a month I think. And believe me I would have driven around longer but my daughter needed me. So I had to come back… But I´m over it. I can look into the future now. I hope you can do that too."

Scratch laid his hand on his brother´s shoulder to comfort him. He could feel that he lied. Stan wasn´t over it, no he was far away from being over it. Like him he was still trying to come to terms with a traumatic event in his past. But in a contrary what Scratch did, revenge, he did it by just suppressing his feelings.

"I drive to the hotel. Should I stop somewhere for you?" asked Stan tiredly smiling.  
"Do you know where Snap in the box is?"  
"This restaurant? Really?"  
"Yeah… Let´s say I meet some old friends there and talk with them about business." Smirked Scratch evilly.


	6. Of bones and beans

Always the yellow ones, the red ones together with the blue but never the green ones. When it comes to Jelly beans Jessica just had these rules. And followed them meticulously. She had emptied the contents of a bag of Jelly beans on the table in the T.U.F.F. tea kitchen.

Now she began to order the beans on little piles by their colors. As she had a red, a blue, a yellow and green pile lying in front of her she took all the green ones and threw them into the trash. She hated the green one. It must be the taste mixed with the color of them which made them so disgusting for her.

She also didn´t really like the red and the blue ones but when she combined them they tasted pretty well. But nothing beats the yellow ones. They just tasted best. Jessica has loved them since she was a little girl. She could remember that her father always brought her a bag when he came back from shopping at the grocery store.

And that was in her memory the only nice thing he did for her.  
In her memory her father was a very unfair and strict man. He never harmed her or anything else but he was very severe with her. He never let her go out with her friends or on parties, what was of course torture for a young rebellious quick-tempered teenage girl.

Unbearable if you note the fact that Jessica was and is a rebellious and quick-tempered person. Things like boys and alcohol were of course also taboo topics in their house. The maxim her father followed was similar to the maxim of a medieval monk.

'Ora et labora', pray and work. Except for going to school he almost never let her out of the house. You could maybe think that this man was maybe also violent or a drinker or something. But Jessica´s father never drank and, as already mentioned, never harmed her.

He wasn´t a bad person but all these rules with which he bossed around his daughter brought her to a final decision in the age of 15. In a fit of youthful foolishness and myopia she ran away from home.  
Usually kids that do that end either on the street or come back home but Jessica was lucky.

She somehow managed it to get a place in the T.U.F.F. academy. The rest is history. She got to know Kitty and this rivalry came to existence which was still there today.  
Of course there were always times Jessica and her father tried to come closer again.

But they always ended the same way. They screamed at each other through the phone so long until one of them gave in and hung up.  
Jessica often wished the times back in which her mother was still alive.

She couldn´t remember that time quiet well, though she was pretty young back then, but she knew that before her mother died her father was much more relaxed and not so oppressive.  
About her mother she knew hardly anything.

She didn´t even have a real picture in her memory from her. Jessica just knew her from the photos. She was beautiful strong woman before the cancer made her vegetate like a withering flower. From photo to photo you could see how a little more life left her mother´s body, how her face became pale and her smile melted into a frown.

"I should maybe call Dad…" suggested Jessica munching the blue and red Jelly Beans. "… even if I know how that´ll end." Swallowing the Jelly beans she stood up, grabbed the yellow jelly beans and started to walk back to her office.

Now began the best, she ate the yellow ones. Every single bean after the other. She didn´t chew them, she just waited until they melted in her mouth and let the taste dance on her tongue.  
"So good…" she whispered.

"Uhm… chief?" a weak, insecure voice called from behind her. Jessica turned around and looked in the eyes of a squirrel in a suit that was too big for him. One of the agents, Rick was his name. But Jessica wasn´t really sure if that was really his name.

This guy was boring in her opinion and also not someone who should be a T.U.F.F. agent. But he somehow had managed it to caught the three most dangerous villains of Petropolis lately and even if they were on the loose again now he deserved respect for that.

"Yes…uhm… Rick right?"  
"Exactly." Giggled the agent embarrassed. "I have today´s intel for you."  
"You, intel?"

"Yes. Hasn´t chief Katswell told you? I´m more or less her secretary when it comes to all the spy things. I hand her the files and keep her up to date what´s happening in the city."  
"I see." Said Jessica tapping her chin with her fingers pensively. "So what´s new?"

"Okay let´s see… Snaptrap informed us that he is plotting something today, also Birdbrain and the Chameleon did that. Maybe they teamed up or something. Whatever they do, we should keep an eye on them. They are dangerous. And rumor has it that also Madam Catastrophe and Doctor Rabies working on something. And here is something very peculiar. A street informant hinted that there will be a big thing soon."

"Oh great…" sighed Jessica slightly annoyed. It couldn´t come worse. Scratch could strike almost every day since they accommodated Richards. And Jessica wasn´t willing to second agents she needed for catching the big fish just to hunt theses little nuisances. Also the problem was that she had to send Richards back to jail sooner or later because they had actually no good reasons for keeping him at T.U.F.F..

"Okay listen, Rick." Ordered Jessica with an aggressive tone. "Forget about Snaptrap and these wannabe criminals. I need all agents here for something special. Got it?" Jessica was almost about to head to her office as Rick stopped her with the words. "Chief, the mayor is already very nervous."

Exasperated stopped Jessica in front of her office door and said. "Good okay. How many agents do we need for eradicating those pests?"  
"Well… all of them. If just the half of our intel is correct this is going to be a tough night for T.U.F.F."  
"But I need some agents here!"

"Uhm… I could offer you agents Nutz, he isn´t allowed to go on field missions anymore because of some… incidences. And Keswick will be here of course, I mean he´s always here. And I… I will be here to."

"Okay. The Nerd, the psychopath and the loser" mumbled Jessica almost silent. Rick didn´t hear that, he just received a disappointed nod from his boss before she entered her office.  
She expected a bit privacy in there, just a bit stillness so that she could sort her thoughts and plan the next step.

But what she got was Keswick standing with his arms folded like he was waiting for her in the middle of the room. He wore, in a contrary to usually, a small shoulder bag.  
"Nice purse Keswick." Sneered Jessica instead of greeting him properly.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever. C..C..Come with me." Keswick walked fast past Jessica and out of the office again. She followed him without even thinking of saying something against the fact that the T.U.F.F. scientist just ordered the chief what to do. It was because of their agreement to work together to get Scratch. Otherwise she would have never even listened what this little nerd said.

Keswick and Jessica walked for quite a while until they reached a room deep deep in the inner of the T.U.F.F. building. The legendary interrogation room which wasn´t empty at this time. A smarmy looking weasel in an old grey suit with a red tie sat in the room and gazed nervously around.

"May I introduce h..h..him to you, Mathew Richards." Said Keswick through the half mirror that separated the real interrogation room from the observation room.  
"Really? That´s the guy Scratch´s is searching for? He looks like he´s a hawker and sells vacuum cleaners." commented Jessica on the weasel.

"Nice description." Laughed Keswick. "But would you r..r..really buy one from that guy?"  
"No! He also looks like he sells broken ones."  
"This theory is quite plausible… But we´re not here to talk about that a..a..aren´t we?" Keswick now opened his shoulder bag and pulled a thin tablet-pc out of it. "We´re here to catch a monster, right?" Softly started Keswick to type on the tablet. Rhythmically his fingers danced tango on the touchscreen.

"I hope you didn´t brought me here just to show off with your new tablet." Asked Jessica a bit confused.  
"Nope… even if it´s new and awesome. I want to show you a l..l..little movie a security cam in Frankfurt recorded." Keswick turned the tablet to Jessica on which a giant play button waited to get clicked. Of course she didn´t hesitated to fulfill the wish of the little device and immediately a colorless video started.

It showed a normal hallway somewhere near the duty free shops. A midsize figure stumbled out of one opening that lead into the big hallway. It looked like this person was kind of sick, what became visible as it put its head into a trash can. And not because it searched for leftovers. Then the video stopped suddenly.

"I´ve seen better youtube videos of vomiting guy, Keswick." Said Jessica handing the tablet back to the T.U.F.F. scientist.  
"Maybe but this isn´t just a video about any guy. Our retching f..f..friend here is no one else than Scratch."

"No!" called Jessica out surprised.  
"Yes!" replied Keswick grinning. "I don´t know why but there was something that caused him an upset s..s..stomach. Funny, huh?"

"Maybe we find out more if we watch how he got there… Wasn´t the video longer? Give me the tablet!" Jessica reached her hand out for the tablet but Keswick pulled it fast out of her reach.  
"No there is nothing more… I already w..w..watched it." You don´t have to be an expert to tell that Keswick lied, it was so obvious that it fueled Jessica´s curiosity.

With one hand she lifted Keswick up by his collar and grabbed with her free hand the tablet. "Hey!" screamed Keswick as he was put ungentle on the ground.  
"Yeah yeah, whatever." Murmured the female cheetah while typing on the tablet.

After browsing through three folders with content inappropriate for children Jessica found the video and didn´t hesitate to press play.  
Again the empty white hallway flashed up and also Scratch reappeared on the screen. But this time he didn´t stumble around and he wasn´t alone. A tall tanned female cat followed him. Jessica recognized her old competitor immediately.

"Keswick, there is Kitty!" she exclaimed. "Why is Kitty together with Scratch?"  
"That isn´t Kitty."  
"And you believe that I believe that?"

"You have t..t..to" replied Keswick with a stern, almost aggressive, voice. Whatever he kept secret, he was not willing to expose it to her. Maybe it was because he wanted to protect Kitty from the consequences it brought to give her competitor this kind of information.

After all, Kitty was discussing something with a criminal and didn´t even try to arrest him. That would mean that she maybe work together. And if that was the fact, Jessica had everything to give Kitty a quietus. And if she could arrest Scratch and could prove that Kitty was a traitor she would maybe become more than just the chief of a T.U.F.F. branch.

"Things getting better and better, thank you Keswick." Meant Jessica with a big grin.  
"Wait, what do you m..m..mean?"  
"We will capture Scratch and he will then proof that Kitty was a traitor and I get promoted."

"Kitty is no traitor!" protested Keswick angrily. "And if you think that Scratch will talk with you thought wrong."  
"Oh believe me, he will talk." Jessica already rubbed her hands in excitement but a foreign voice made her see reasons again very quickly.

"Dubito, num hoc verum sit." Called this voice.  
"What?... Scratch?!" startled stared Jessica and Keswick at the bald head dog with the square glasses who stood just armed with a knife in the doorframe of the observation room.  
"Hello Keswick. It´s been a while, huh?"

"It´s been not long e..e..enough." Growled Keswick.  
"Oh… Keswick. You´re so unforgiving. Free yourself."  
"And that comes from the most u..u..unforgiving person that has ever existed."

"BOTH OF YOU SHUT UP!" screamed Jessica who has drew her colt in the meantime.  
"Oh, you´re here too." Said Scratch with pretended surprise and gave Jessica one of his famous smiles. One of those which could melt an ice-block.

It had a certain effect on her, even if she called all his deeds back into her mind she was unable to feel anger against him immediately. But after a few seconds of staring at him, the anger came.  
"May I introduce myself to you. My name is Scratch and I´m here to take Mr. Richards with me."

"Yeah, whatever. Forget about that! You walked directly in our trap! In the name of T.U.F.F., I arrest you. Lay down your knife or I open fire!"  
Scratch´s smile became an evil grin as he heard Jessica´s words. It somehow looked like he waited for those words. "Did you just said fire?"

It was a bizarre moment for Jessica and Keswick. They just heard the sound of a lighter and not a second later hungry flames began to surround Scratch and made him to a living torch. And this torch moved fast towards them.

He almost reached them as the sprinkler system activated itself with a loud bang. Jessica wanted to fire but the shock about Scratch´s transformation and the sudden rain from the ceiling let her trigger finger freeze. Scratch used his chance ice cold. He first knocked over Keswick by hitting his fist on his nose.

Then he grabbed Jessica´s gun, gripped her finger and bended it into the other direction until her bone gave in. Ignoring the scream that came from her Scratch pushed her with a kick away from him.  
A bit steaming and wet he pointed the colt at her.

"Did you really believe it would be so easy? Your trap was too obvious! So I planned something myself. Or why do you think all criminals are on raids today? By the way…" Scratch fished a key out of his pocket and threw it at Jessica. "Nutz and Rick are in the broom closet. You should maybe let them out there within the next two days… at least Rick. I think you would do the world a favor if you keep Nutz in there. Just a suggestion."

Jessica didn´t answer him, she just gave him an hateful glare and held her broken finger.  
"Okay… I see you don´t want to talk right now… So I just take Richards with me."  
"What you w..w..will do with him?" asked Keswick who woke up from his unconsciousness.

"Just ask him some questions. You´ll get him back later… at least pieces of him." Laughing turned Scratch around and left the observation room.  
In the second he was out of the door Jessica stood up and the by the look she had on her face you could tell that she wanted to ambush Scratch.

It was Keswick who luckily stopped her. "Leave it! He´s armed and you are h..h..hurt!"  
"That´s just a broken finger! That can´t hinder me from breaking his neck!" she screamed trying to push Keswick away but the little guy clung to her like a burr.

"I b..b..beg you leave it! In a contrary to me or Kitty he won´t hesitate to kill you if you get into his way again!"  
"In a contrary?! What do you mean?"

"I´ll explain it to you but please wait until he´s gone!"  
Even if Jessica really liked to fight Scratch in this moment she listened to the voice of reason. Besides that she knew that this wasn´t her last encounter with Scratch. That was sure.

**-Dubito, num hoc verum sit. = I doubt that this is the truth-**


	7. Two man and a saw

"I don´t know how you always do that but I´m impressed. Really really impressed. I mean Wow… really!" Parva tried to express her amazement with words.  
"Well, it seems that I haven´t impressed you enough." Said Scratch and leaned back in a big armchair and looked calmly into the fireplace in front of him. "Because if I had you wouldn´t talk."

"Yeah… and I know that I should better shut up but…" Parva leaned forward in her armchair which stood face to face to each other beside the fireplace. "How did you make that with the flames? What kind of sorcery was that?!"

"Well, a wizard never reveals his tricks." Winked Scratch grinning.  
"Oh come on." Begged Parva. "Please please please…"  
Scratch began to laugh. Parva behaved like a three year old girl and Scratch could really laugh days about here imitation. "Okay but just if you promise me that you won´t tell it to anyone."

"I promise!"  
"Okay. You remember that I wanted you to get me the number of this Hollywood guy?"  
"The special effect guy? Yes."

"Actually he was a stunt man." Corrected Scratch. "Have you ever asked yourself how they make these stunts where people run burning through the streets? Or generally all stunts that have to do with fire."

"I just thought that this was some kind of CGI animation."  
"No, they really burn." Explained Scratch "But they don´t hurt themselves and there is a good reason for that. A special paste they put on their clothes. You can burn for three minutes before the fire starts to burn you… For this special trick I even put that stuff on my fur. By the way, here is a little piece of advice. Don´t do that. It burns like lava even if your skin don´t get damaged."

"Ah!" exclaimed Parva understanding. "That´s why you wanted to know something about the T.U.F.F. fire protection!"  
"Exactly! I needed something that extinguish the living candle that is now sitting so cool in front of you."

"And you wanted me to call the other villains to distract most of the T.U.F.F. agents, right?"  
"You learn fast." Praised Scratch happily.  
"Yeah, that´s a reason why I´m the best in my class." Retorted Parva giving Scratch a wink.

"Okay, first you´re second best in your class and second this is just because all of the others in your class are too stupid to switch the light on."  
"Even if that was true… that was kind of insulting." The young cat girl leaned back in her armchair and gazed around in the luxury hotel room in which she and Scratch sat. "Uhm… Scratch?"

"Yes?"  
"Why are we here?"  
"A very interesting question. The old romans once said…"  
"No." interrupted Parva before Scratch could give her a Latin lesson. "I mean in this hotel room. That´s not your usual style, is it? I mean what´s with… uhm… standard protocol?"

Scratch folded his arms in front of his chest and gave her a complacent look as he heard her question. "It´s easy, we are actors on a big stage. So we will also behave like actors, that´s all."  
"I still don´t understand."

"Parva, our plan this time is not to stay undercover as long as possible. It´s about provoking the right people without involving the uninvolved. Sending the right massages to the right receivers. So our plan has more a theatric nature. And Petropolis is our stage."

"Yeah okay, but isn´t that a bit dangerous?"  
"To be honest, yes." The dog said seriously. "But I need this room for our first theatric action."  
"What will this be?"  
"Sending a message… and annoying T.U.F.F.."

"Oh my god" gasped Parva realizing something. "Is that the reason why we have this saw here?"  
"Yes." Replied Scratch baldly.  
"Whoa whoa whoa… Scratch! I thought you want to interrogate him!"

"Yeah, that´s the first part."  
"Oh god… that´s… disgusting!" She shook her head in disgust.  
"What? You thought that all these stories about me are just fictional?"

"Actually yes!" Parva said that not because of juvenile naivety, she got to know Scratch as a very friendly person that was always in the mood for a joke. He maybe was sometimes a bit pensively but he was just not the person that was described in those stories. Not the person who slaughters in Sierra Leone a bunch of child soldiers. "Oh… then here is another piece of advice. Every rumor has a bit truth in it." Giggled Scratch and stood up.

At a leisurely pace he strolled around in the room for a while and admired the tastefully furnished room. It was the most expensive suite in the Petropolis hotel. And it cost Scratch a little fortune to rent it for a week. But if you want to have golden doorknobs or a T.V. that is as big as the whole wall at which it stood, you have to pay a little fortune.

After Scratch´s need of seeing flashy things was satisfied he walked to the big saw, Parva already mentioned, and picked it up from the ground on which it lay. "So, time to start I guess. Parva, you better leave this room. I don´t think that you want to be here when this starts."  
"No. I… I´ll stay." Meant the girl with a firm but fearful voice and stood up from her chair.

"I can´t really approve that, girl. You don´t want to see that. I don´t want you to see that."  
"I´m not a little girl, Scratch!" she protested. "I´m a full member of this team! Please treat me like that."

"As you wish… Anyway, Seneca!" the bald dog shouted towards the closed door that separated the luxury ante-room with one of the bedrooms. "Get the guest out!"  
It didn´t take a long time until the door got pushed open and Seneca pulled a chair through the door with the same smeary weasel on it which Scratch had seen in the T.U.F.F. interrogation room.

Even if the face of the weasel wasn´t recognizable anymore. Seneca did a really good job in the pre-interrogation. To explain that, pre-interrogation is a special treatment the interrogator gives his victim before he talks to him the first time. That can be almost everything from administering drugs to the person over psychological torture, like isolation or similar, to a simple beating like in this case.

And you wouldn´t believe how versed Seneca was when it comes to the last one. Behind his cold calm and quiet behavior slumbers the beat abilities of a barbarian.  
Seneca pulled the chair into the middle of the room and began then to touch his shoulder with a face contorted with pain.

"Pulled muscle?" asked Scratch and lay the saw in front of the chair. He growled approvingly and added with his squeaky voice. "Maybe while I rearranged his face."  
"Yeah, that´s possible." Giggled Scratch. "May I make you a suggestion? You take Parva and have lunch somewhere in the city. Or you two can go shopping or something."

"Privacy?" mumbled Seneca raising an eyebrow.  
"Exactly."  
"Wait!" interjected Parva angrily. "I wanted to stay!"  
"Maybe, but you also wanted to be treated as a full team member."

"Oh come on I…"  
"That is not that I ask you to do this." Scratch voice sounded suddenly cold and stern like the voice of someone who wasn´t joking, what was a reason why Parva yield and left the room with Seneca. But of course not without letting some steam off by showing Scratch her middle finger.

As the door of the suite snapped shut, Scratch sighed tiredly. "This is becoming some kind of running gag or something." He turned now to the man on the chair and forced one of his famous smile on his face. Scratch didn´t know why this was so hard for him right now. He was waiting for this moment for almost three months, he should smile like a little kid in a candy store in this moment.

He had this feeling since the last week, the feel that he was somehow stuck. Not with his revenge more with his life in general. He remembered that he once had plans. Good plans. Plans like founding a family or climbing a mountain.

But these plans were put ad acta… and he didn´t know if he would ever open the file cabinet ever again. Scratch shook his head, it wasn´t the time now to get melancholy. It was time to ask a few questions.

"Mr Richards! Finally we meet. You wouldn´t believe how hard it was to find you."  
The weasel lifted his head weakly up and gazed exhausted out of his beaten, teeth missing face at Scratch. "I know why I´m here. And I´ll tell you nothing Scratch." Breathed Richards.

"Ha! Do you know how often I heard this phrase? 21 times. And you know how often the people talked after that? 21 times. So can´t we skip this shit?"  
"No."  
"Seriously Richards, was that was Seneca done to you not enough?"

"I know that you will kill me." Hissed the weasel. "So why telling you something?"  
"Because you can choose the way you die. Fast or slow and painful. It´s an easy decision. Tell me the name of the one who is behind that all and you receive variant one."  
"If that are my choices I´m ready to receive my doom with pleasure for our glorious goals."  
"Glorious goals?" Scratch asked confused. "What do you mean with that?"

"Wait you don´t kn… Hahaha!" Richards began suddenly to laugh like an idiot. "And I thought that you have at least a clue. That we just have to make one mistake and then you will uncover everything! But you don´t even know why we doing what we doing! You just caught our tool until now, don´t you? Oh my god you really needed seven years to catch someone we pay! HAHAHA!" his laughter got louder and louder. "Isn´t that ironic? The one we fear the most isn´t even close enough to hurt us! Come on Scratch, do your worst. I know that leave my children a better world when I leave in silent."

Scratch couldn´t remember in this moment when it was the last time he was so confused. What was Richards talking about? Glorious goals? Scratch thought he would search for a guy that does that because of money and power. But glorious goals didn´t sound like that.  
"And that are your last words?" enquired Scratch hopping that the weasel would made up his mind.  
"Yes."

"Hmm…" Scratch stroked pensively over his chin. "I thought that I would get at least something out of you. I mean I saw you in the interrogation room. You seemed insecure and afraid… I thought this would be easy."

"Well, I was. I´m loyal towards our goal and towards the boss. I would never give away anything, even if it doesn´t seem so." Richards had a soft grin on his lips and gave Scratch through that an almost guilty feeling. It was now even harder to do this now, but it had to be done. However, why should he now let him suffer if that´s useless?

Of course he could torture him, it wouldn´t be a big deal. He had tortured information out of all kinds of people but this guy… Scratch had to admit that he never saw someone who was so full of conviction for something. He knew that this man believed so strong in his ideals that he would endure any pain to save them.

Slowly his hands closed around the neck of his victim and tightened his grab. Gradually he increased the pressure on his throat. Richards retched and writhed but it was in vein. Scratch didn´t stop until every bit of life vanished the weasels body.  
"What a waste." Meant Scratch as he pulled his hands away from the throat and laid it at the saw. "Let´s start this better now than later."

Meanwhile almost on the other side of the planet, Kitty just entered her hotel room. But in a contrary to the room in which Scratch was it was less luxury. But she couldn´t afford the same luxury as Scratch, mainly because she just hadn´t the same funds. But that didn´t stop her from having one of the best times in her live yet.

She has been in India for eight days now and she couldn´t stop grinning. These day were just unbelievably fantastic. She saw places so beautiful that words are not enough to describe them. She met people that were so full of joy that this joy even caught her. And she danced, even if she wasn´t a good dancer. To sounds that were new for her ears but nevertheless sounded so familiar.

It was a time without grief, without fear, without hate.  
The only thing she was afraid of was the thought that this time would be over soon. That she had to return to the grey daily routine which would suck every drop of life out of her.

"The best is not to think too much about that…" she said to herself. "That just brings me down."  
Kitty walked to her bed and flopped backwards onto it. "Wonderful… I could just sleep right now." She moaned relaxed. "Or just enjoy this a bit longer pre-sleep state just a bit longer."

Kitty closed her eyes and felt like she would fly on the soft mattress. "Oh wait… damn. I still have a free massage in an hour." She suddenly remembered. If she went to sleep now she would definitely not get up in one hour. So she did the only thing that was right and stood up again even if it was unbelievably hard to leave these soft sheets.

"What wouldn´t I do for a massage" she sighed as she stretched a bit. She wanted to take a shower to galvanize her spirits but a peculiar noise stopped her, a humming sound. "What?" Kitty looked around searching. The sound seemed to come from one of her bags. Cautiously, not knowing what she would find, she approached to the small black bag and opened it.

She rummaged through quite a lot of clothes before she found the source of the sound. A cellphone, just an ordinary cellphone. "Oh just a cellphone… wait that isn´t my cellphone. Or is it?" Kitty didn´t really know if it was here cellphone or not. As a spy you have so many cellphones that it´s easy to lose the overview.

You don´t use them for calling someone of course, you mainly use them for building all sort of things out of them. From bugs to tracking devices you can almost build anything if you have a cellphone.  
Kitty took it out of the bag and inspected the phone. It was a modern touch screen smart phone and that thing was vibrating but because it someone was calling.

Just because the battery was almost dead. "Who constructs these things?" said Kitty as she looked at the display where the warning 'battery dead' was constantly flashing. "I mean instead of using the last bit of charge to keep the vital functions alive it just nags you with this energy to put it on the charger!"

Kitty was about to put the cellphone back into the bag as she saw a cable that also didn´t belong to her. "Okay, that is really not my cellphone" she mumbled and walked driven by curiosity about the device to the next plug and put the phone onto the local power grid.

"So let´s see… you aren´t a bug. That´s sure. You´re battery runs down too fast for that… At least I wouldn´t use a smartphone for this purpose… and…" Kitty removed the cover from the back of the phone. "… no tracking device is attached to the battery here. So this is maybe really just a smartphone. But not mine. Let´s see…"

She now began to search through the phone. But there was nothing until she inspected the contact list. Under contacts there was just one contact and she had just hoped that this person would leave her alone. "Dudley…" she sighed as she saw the picture of the mutt. "... Why can´t you just leave me alone?"

Kitty pushed with her thumb on the contact, which was named 'emergency Dudley', to dial the number, she wanted to give it straight to him that she wanted to have nothing to do with him anymore.

"Hello?" An occupied seeming voice answered from the other side of the line.  
"DUDLEY LEAVE ME ALONE!" she screamed into the speaker and drowned with her voice the constant sawing-sound that was caused in her opinion definitely from the bad connection.

"Ah… you found my cellphone!" laughed Scratch happily.  
"OF COURSE! AND HOW THE HELL YOU GET THIS INTO MY BELONGINGS?!"  
"I put into your bag while you slept so peaceful on that bench on the airport. Anyway, this is actually an emergency number… Are you in some kind of trouble?"

"YES" yelled Kitty. "AN UNPLEASANT GHOST FROM MY PAST IS HAUNTING ME!"  
The sawing-sound suddenly stopped and the voice from the other side sighed. "Kitty… I´m sorry that I bother you."

Kitty was taken by complete surprise as she heard that what sounded like an apology.  
"And I would immediately stop this all and leave but this thing went too far. I am too deep involved into this all… and you too."

"I, involved?" she repeated his words.  
"They will maybe visit you and they will make you an offer then. And if that happens and you refuse, what you´ll definitely do, I´ll be the only one who will be able to protect you."

"Why should they make me an offer? T.U.F.F. isn´t connected to this conspiracy!"  
"Kitty I have to hang up now. Call me just if there is an emergency!" replied Scratch rough and ended the conversation.

Kitty was a bit taken aback as the conversation ended suddenly. The thing didn´t made sense. Why should they bother T.U.F.F.? And if they would make her an offer… was the chief also connected to that? No, that was impossible. She wasn´t even willing to let this thought come to her mind. The chief would have never done something like that.

But whatever it was what Dudley meant, it was able to chase away her carefree mood. All the fears were back. And under them the ugly feeling that she went away and neglected her duty by leaving the city alone with the conspirators and Scratch. A voice in her said that she should end her vacation earlier and go back to the city to check if there´s everything in order.  
"I go… but I go after this free massage. I mean… it´s free."


	8. Five boxes

It was still early in the morning in Petropolis but the city hall was full of activity. Interns that were carrying papers from desk to desk were everywhere and all rooms were filled with the sound of stamps that were pressed brutally on documents. And even if the first break would be in a few hours, most employees already had their third cup of coffee.

Of course it wasn´t everywhere so noisy like in the offices of the lower management. In the  
ante-room of the mayor´s office it was comparatively quiet. Just two people were sitting there. The one was Mandy, the mayor´s secretary. A young pretty bunny with a blonde put-up hairdo, red lips and the clichéd long fingernails which she permanently filed.

The other person was an irritated seeming monkey in a grey nondescript suit. He sat on a chair and brushed again and again the single strand of hair over his half-bald head and in the same move he stroked over the ridge of his small crooked nose.

"The mayor will welcome you in a few minutes Mr. White." Said Mandy recognizing the nervousness of the man.  
"Whatever…" replied the man nervously and angrily. He looked hectically at his watch and then reached for inside his jacket. Cautiously he felt for the small black box and as his fingers touched the black plastic he shrank back in disgust.

This damn little thing. White hated it to carry it around with him, he didn´t even like to have it around. He had it since yesterday and he just wanted to throw it away. But he had to show it the mayor. The whole issue was just too important to ignore it.

How long would it take until the mayor let him into his office? He was waiting for almost an hour now and this secretary didn´t even offer him a cup of coffee.  
"Arrogant cow." White thought and continued brushing through his almost nonexistent head hair.

Finally the wide double doors of the office were pushed open and mayor Willson, a wolf with a charismatic face and black hair, stepped with a big grin towards White. "Lawrence, my old friend. How can I help you?" he beamed with his arms wide open.

"Let´s discuss this inside." Fast pushed White the mayor back into office and closed the doors. After he locked them tightly then walked to the big desk in the middle of the antique furniture furnished office and put the black box on it.

"We´ve got a serious problem, Willson. Really really serious. And I don´t mean a little serious or a bit serious, I mean really heavy serious." White began to breathe faster and faster. "It´s this guy. The guy that brought Young behind prison bars. This Scratch guy!"

"Yeah… so?" replied Willson almost bored.  
"So?! SO?! Do you even know who this is?!"  
"Of course I know… Drug dealer from the east coast. He´s worth a few hundred millions. Nothing more."

"NOTHING MORE?!" gasped White shocked. "HE IS TRYING TO KILL US!"  
But instead of receiving an adequate reaction from Willson, White just saw the mayor shrugging and repeating the already asked question "So?"

"Didn´t you listen?" asked White dumbfounded. "HE is trying to KILL US! We have to do something and we have to do it quick. At least we have to be quicker than he is."  
"I don´t think that this will be necessary." Either the mayor had really no idea who they were dealing with or he underestimated their enemy.

White had to bring out the big guns to persuade him. With shivering hand White walked towards the desk and picked the box up again. "It is necessary, believe me." He opened the box with a fast movement of his thumb and uncovered its content.

And this wasn´t a ring or a pair of earrings, what would be usual for such a box, it was eyeball. A coldly into the distance starring eye that was removed from the skull with surgical precision.  
"Ha!" giggled Willson amused and reached into his pocket. He pulled out a similar looking box. "I have one too. What do you think White, is that some kind of macabre jigsaw puzzle?"

"Wh.. What?!" stammered White staring at the second box in disbelieve.  
"Yeah, maybe we can put him back together if we have enough parts." smirked Willson and threw the box in a casual way on his desk. He did this with White´s box too after snatching it out of his hand. "Now, calm down my friend. Everything is okay. Of course not for Richards but…"

"Wait… Richards?" interrupted the monkey averting his shocked gaze from the boxes, that now lay on the table, to Willson. "These are parts of Mathew?"  
"I´m afraid it´s true. He disappeared a few days ago from prison. I think we received some parts of him."

"You know what that means, right?" asked White panting. "He knows it and he´s behind us. Right behind us! I could turn around and there would he be. Exactly there."  
"Listen White…" sighed Willson as White began to look hectically behind him. "We…" Willson didn´t come further. He was cut short by loud noises from outside of his office.

I sounded like someone was screaming angrily through the hallways and this voice became louder and louder until suddenly a giant angry looking white rhinoceros in a black suit with black tie rushed into the office and forced the door open so hard that they crashed loud against the wall.  
"DAMMIT WILLSON WHAT IS GOING ON HERE?!" it screamed as it built itself up in front of the wolf.

"Sir you can´t just go in there. You don´t have an appointment!" Called Mandy after him.  
"DON´T YOU DARE TELLING ME WHAT TO DO!"  
"Ah, hello Mr. Johnson." Smiled Willson for a second and then called towards Mandy. "It´s okay Ms. Bennett. Please, close the doors when you leave the office."

As Mandy closed the doors with a nod he turned towards the heavily breathing rhino and asked it calmly but with angry undertone. "What is going on Ryan?"  
"WHAT IS GOING ON? This is going!" yelled Johnson again and held a small black box towards him.  
"Oh another one… It´s not an eye isn´t it? I mean he definitely had not more than two eyes." Willson opened the box almost with the excitement of a kid that unwraps its Birthday presents.

His excitement wasn´t disappointed, in the box he found a blood covered ear what looked, in a contrary to the eye, like it was ripped brutally off the skull.  
"ANOTHER ONE?! YOU HAVE MORE OF THEM?! WHAT IS GOING ON HERE?!" screamed Johnson shocked.

"Would you be so kindly to keep your voice down?" hissed White nervously from behind. "Not everyone has to hear about that."  
"I GIVE YOU THE SAME PIECE OF ADVICE THAT I GAVE THE GIRL. DON`T DARE TELLING ME WHAT TO DO!"

"Let me ask you something Johnson. ARE YOU A COMPLETE IDIOT?" shouted White back into the tall rhino´s angry face. "WHAT DO YOU THINK IS GOING ON? WHAT DO YOU THINK WHY WE ALL GOT THESE BOXES? WHY DO YOU THINK YOU, ME, WILLSON AND PROBABLY ALSO ROBSON RECEIVED THESE BOXES?! I BET IF DUMBROVSKI WOULD BE STILL ALIVE… "

"Gentleman, please…" Intervened Willson before the White would scream out more sensitive details. "There is really no need to act up."  
"No need to act up?" asked White a lot quieter but with anger in his voice. He couldn´t understand how Willson could always say that everything was alright. "You still didn´t get it Willson, did you? Someone who know our sins is right behind us and will kill us if we don´t do something!"

"Oh White." sighed the mayor grinning. "I know exactly what´s going on here. But no need to panic. I´m already two steps further. I talked to our mutual friend directly after I received the little box. He got a plan. So we got a plan. And that means, no need to worry. The only thing we should really worry about is this annoying ex city council Peterson… Did you hear that he´s trying to become the governor now? I mean…"

"And what is the plan?" asked the rhino skeptically interrupting Willson´s scorn about the man that tried to become the mayor a month ago but failed against him. And that even if the church massacre was stopped by Scratch and Katswell.

"It would be a pleasure to tell that to you but let´s eat something first. Come on, I invite you. You two look like you haven´t eaten anything yet." Without waiting for an answer Willson strolled to the doors and pushed them lively open.

A bit later on that day, but still in the morning, Jessica entered her office. She needed a bit more time than usually for that but just because the doctor who treated her broken finger put a really big bandage around her hand.

The bandage was so huge that you could believe that she broke every single bone in her hand. Anyway, because of the incompetence of the doctor she had to do everything with her left hand for the next weeks. Annoying of course but what else should she do.

Tired sat Jessica down behind her desk and started to read through a few papers. That was actually just pretext to kill some time. She was still waiting for an explanation of Keswick.  
"In a contrary to me or Kitty he won´t hesitate to kill you if you get into his way again" she mumbled the words he said to her. What did that mean? How were Kitty and Scratch connected? Did she cooperated with him? And what was going on here in general?

She hoped that all these questions would get answered. At least if Keswick would show up at work today. The last two days he wasn´t here and Jessica slowly had the feeling that Keswick was absent because he tried to avoid her. If he didn´t show up today she would pay him a visit at home. She wanted these answers.

But it seemed in this moment that she didn´t has to do a domiciliary visit because Keswick entered the office without knocking at the door with a package under his arm. It seemed that Keswick visited the same doctor as Jessica because he wore a big bandage around his nose. Quietly moved Keswick to the chair on the other side of the table and sat down on it.

"So you finally made it here?"  
"I´m sorry." meant Keswick honestly and put the package on the desk. "But the last days I were really knocked over by these painkillers that the doctor gave me. But I don´t think that you want to hear about that, right?"

"Right." Confirmed Jessica and folded her arms in front of her chest. "And what´s in that box?"  
"The mailman brought it. It´s for you I think… Oh and I got this too." Keswick pulled a letter out of his labcoat and laid it on the box. "That was with the box… Anyway, it´s time for a little bit history now. A few months ago we caught a man red handed stabbing an old man´s chest."

Keswick took the broken picture frame Jessica had destroyed in her fit of rage almost a week ago, which just stood there because Jessica was unsure if she should throw it away, from the desk. With his finger pointed Keswick on the part of the photo where Dudley was. "This man."

"Wait... this agent Puppy guy? You told me that he was dead."  
"Well, it wasn´t exactly this man… But let´s start with the beginning." Keswick took a deep breath, not knowing if it was right or wrong what he did now, and told Jessica the whole story. About the psychopathic murdering traitor Young, who was wearing the face of a dead man. About Nefarius, the priest and criminal that lost his life. About the conspiracy that Scratch is trying to uncover. And about Scratch self, the creature that rose from the ash that wasn´t pretty enough to call it a phoenix.

As Keswick ended with the words "And now we are here." Jessica leaned forward in her armchair. In silence she him eyed critically not knowing if she just heard some kind of weird fiction. The whole story just sounded too impossible to be true. Keswick had to lie.

"Keswick, I thought you want to tell me the truth." She began calmly. "But now you come up with these fairy tales."  
"That is the truth." Protested Keswick. "Every single word."

"You really try to tell me that a former agent, driven by hate and vengeance, was following the murderer of his mother around the world while building up a drug empire to help him with that and manages meanwhile to figure out that this was part of a big conspiracy? Keswick, I´m not sitting here on this chair because I´m naïve."

"You wanted to hear the story. If you believe it is up to you. You won´t hear anything more from me except a few words of warning." Keswick stood up from the chair and raised his index finger up high. "Scratch isn´t Agent Puppy anymore. Every single bit of the man we knew died. He´s just a mentally unstable violent monster with a bit rest memory of the life he once had. You should better avoid him."

He spun on his heels in a theatric way and left the office. Lost in thoughts looked Jessica after him and watched how the door fell shut. The story was crazy, that was out of question, but it would explain a few things. For example what was the connection between Scratch and Kitty.

"No…" she said whispered shaking her head as doubts about her doubts began to rise. "… he must have lied to me. I think I have to talk to him again… later." Of course she wanted concrete answers but right in this moment she was oddly satisfied with this story.

Maybe there was really a small part inside her that believed it. Small but powerful enough to keep the rest of her calm. Or at least divert her curiosity from Keswick´s story to the package on her desk. She first put the letter on top of the box aside and began with a letter opener, which she often sharpened when she got bored, to cut carefully through the tape that held the package together.

Softly gave the paper of the package in as all the tapes were cut through. As she opened the package she had expected much but not the decapitated head that glared at her out of its empty eye sockets. With its lips formed to a mischievous grin the head radiated a more unpleasant feeling than a head in a box would do anyway.

Shocked backed Jessica away from the package and fought for air. She has seen many bizarre and weird things in her time as an agent but a head in a box was even new for her.  
"What the heck?!" she gasped trying to control her breath.

It took her a few seconds before her mind was again the commander of her limps. Now with more disgust then fear she approached to her desk and looked at the head.  
A terrible view was offered to her.

Besides the missing eyes she recognized that the ears on this head were missing.  
On the spots were they should be there just hang blood covered flaps of skin. Also the nose was somehow cut off. She didn´t see that as she opened the package.

But after all it was especially the grin what was sent cold shivers down her spine. Combined with the missing eyes it felt like the head was grinned in a way saying 'You´re next.'  
"What kind of sick joke is that?!" wondered Jessica shaking her head.

On their search for answers her eyes fell on the letter that belonged to the package. Hasty she caught the envelope and ripped it apart. There was just a little handwritten note inside.

_Dear Ms. Spotrunner,  
This is my very last warning for you. Keep your nose out of things that doesn´t concern you.  
Otherwise I feel forced to use heavy violence against you.  
Yours sincerely,  
Scratch_

Jessica just stared unbelieving at the five lines. The question if Scratch was really a psychopath was definitely answered now. And it seemed like that he wanted to have her out of his way. But what Scratch didn´t know was that Jessica had the obstinacy of a rock. Already as a child she didn´t give in so easy and now she wouldn´t even move a millimeter to make it easier for him.

"Does this guy really believe that he can threat me?" she mumbled looming while crumpling the letter into a ball. "You messing with the wrong cheetah Scratch, do you hear that?! You´re the one who should be afraid."


	9. Operation happy birthday

Steel bars, dirty long corridors, overcrowded cells and prison warders sadistic as well as corrupt. The Petropolis jail wasn´t really a nice place. The most dangerous and notorious criminals of the whole country sat there and also criminals like Snaptrap, Birdbrain or the Chameleon. But luckily for them they weren´t imprisoned at the moment.

Since they knew that Scratch was in the city every criminal kept calm just stay out of his way. Well, except this one time a few days ago where they helped him. But since then they really kept calm. And even if Scratch wasn´t in the city every criminal tried to avoid to get into this jail.

Of course it was the nature of every criminal to avoid prison but especially this jail was the one they tried to avoid the most. You could spent days to explain why this prison is so bad but the best and most impressive explanation would be a statistic that a local Petropolis newspaper published almost a year ago.

According to it was it more likely to get killed on the prison-yard than in the rat´s nest, the most dangerous and criminal part of Petropolis. And that although shootings and robberies were part of the daily routine of the rat´s nest.

This statistic always brings a smile to Scratch´s face. Young was in this jail and that statistic clearly implied that Young wouldn´t have a good time there. Especially because Scratch knew some people in there that helped him to give Young a bad time.  
"I once had the pleasure…" meant Parva shivering as she and Scratch walked down one of these long dirty corridors.

"Really?" asked Scratch surprised and stroked over his false mustache. He always had the feeling that this thing would fall off any minute.  
"Yeah, I was their guest for two days… the worst two days of my live."  
"…By now." added Scratch smirking.  
"Thanks for the encouraging outlook on my live." Parva looked over to him. "Could you stop brushing through your mustache?"

"I try but I hate false beards. They itching like someone put itching powder on my face. Anyway, how you´re doing? Does the wig fit?"  
"I have to admit that this thing is quite comfortable. Of course nothing I would wear every day because, you know, I prefer braid and not this open worn long hair." She pushed some strands of her false hair of her shoulder while saying that.

"If I were you I would think about wearing my hair open. You look really cute." Said Scratch with a father like tone and scratched his false beard.  
"Thank you" replied Parva blushing a bit. She wasn´t used to get compliments, especially not from Scratch. He wasn´t the guy that says to you that you look good. No, Scratch just compliments if you did your work properly and that also not too often.

"By the way…" he finally abandoned his facial hair and turned with her left into another long dirty hallway. "… how are your education plans progressing?"  
"Pretty well. I have some exams soon. I´m nervous but I think I´ll make them." Parva suddenly stopped walking and eyed Scratch suspiciously. "Why do you ask?" she asked while Scratch just walked on.

She knew that there was a reason why he asked her about school. Scratch wouldn´t ask these questions if he didn´t want something.  
"So, you have no problems there?"  
"No." Parva jogged a bit to catch up to him again.

"Then it would be definitely no problem for you if I give you some extra work." There was it, exactly like she expected it. The whole school dialogue was just a way for him to approach to this topic and to sound out if she had time for that.

"What kind of extra work?"  
Scratch started to grin. He must have understood this enquiry as a sign that she´ll accept this job. Out of the dirty coat, which was part of his disguise, he pulled a photo and handed it to her. "You know that we´re working against two enemies this time. The conspirators and T.U.F.F."

"So?" Parva took a look at the photo which showed a young squirrel in a suit that was much too big for him.  
"Well, we need someone in one of these organizations to know what they´ll do and…"  
"Come to the point." Sighed Parva annoyed and gave Scratch a look which underlined her tone of voice.

"Scientia potentia est, Parva. And you´ll be my source for that."  
"I still don´t have any idea what we have to do." Admitted Parva a bit confused.  
"Spies like to work with bugs. Microphones. If you place them in the right you can listen to everything your enemy plans. But sometimes that´s not the best way to get a direct eavesdrop on your enemy."

"Aha." Parva looked at the picture of the squirrel again. "I suppose the best way has something to do with this guy?"  
"And again you proofed that you´re the best in your class." Mocked Scratch. "But yeah, he has something to do with that. As I said, sometimes it´s not enough to use a bug. We need to control our enemies or in our case just one enemy. And even if he is just a little piece in the big machinery he´ll do his part. I ask you Parva." Scratch stopped walking in front of an ugly green door with a steel door knob and gazed in a very spooky way into her eyes. "Are you ready for your first single side mission?"

"Oh my god yes." She screamed like she just accepted a marriage proposal by him. Finally, a single mission. That´s was what she wanted the whole time. Finally she had the chance to proof herself and show that she´s not just the kid but a full team member.

A sustained "Good" came from Scratch, approving her decision. Smiling he pulled a phone out of his coat and thrust it into her hand, then he asked "Do you know what the honeypot is?"  
"Honeypot… honeypot…" she repeated pensively and stroked through her false hair until she came to the conclusion that she had no idea by saying "Nope."

"Seduction and eavesdropping of an enemy agent… or in your case pretending a relationship with this enemy to squeeze everything out of him… not literally… or literally, that´s up to you."  
"Okay and what does this squirrel… Oh no." she sighed realizing.  
"Oh yes." Replied Scratch almost laughing.

"But he´s not even my type, this… this… suit-wearing momma´s boy."  
"Well, that happens sometimes." Giggled the dog like he enjoyed that. "You don´t always get the subject you want."

"And what about me? I´m 17! Don´t you think that I´m a bit too young for him."  
"Well, first, he is just 21 and if my clock doesn´t lie to me…" Scratch pulled his right sleeve up and took a look on his expensive looking watch which was actually just worth 20 Dollar.

While others would never wear such a cheap imitation of an expensive clock, Scratch saw the whole thing pragmatically. In his opinion it doesn´t matter if the thing costs 10 or 10,000 Dollar as long as it shows the time properly. "… You´ll become 18 in about 9 hours."

"Yeah… But… I… Oh damn… Okay…" Parva let her head hang down and accepted her fate. What else should she do? Scratch played his cards fantastically. He lured her, with a mission she always wanted to do and a beforehand assurance to do the job, into the trap.

"Right, girl. Don´t mess with the master." stated Scratch lively. "Oh and don´t worry. This should be an easy honeypot. Our friend got an internet dating profile so he seems to be pretty desperate."  
"Well at least something… and for what is this cellphone?" Parva finally remembered the phone in her hand.

"That has nothing to do with the honeypot. That is another thing I want you to do… it has something to do with something I would call your 'birthday present'. I know you´re want to see Young again and to take pleasure in his sufferance but this has a higher priority."  
"Birthday present? Okay. What do you want me to do?"

"In about five minutes this cellphone will ring." Explained Scratch. "And when it does so, just answer it with the words 'Happy birthday'. Got it?"  
"Of course, do I look like an idiot?" Retorted Parva cheekily. Scratch just answered with his standard phrase to that. "No, you look like you." and then went into the room.

Like everything in this prison, the room was dirty and small. A glass-wall separated it into two parts. Part one was the one for the prisoners. A few bored looking warders, that should prevent the prisoners from killing each other, stared into space and waited for the time that they could punch the clock. The other side was for the visitors and was relatively empty.

Just a white female dog with blonde fair curly hair who talked with a big nasty looking crocodile. Over some small holes in the glass they talked with each other. Obviously those two were lovers. Scratch realized that by seeing their hands which were laid on each other just separated by 3 centimeter of bulletproof glass.

And on their faces, this special look they had in common. This unworldly, almost idiotic, seeming spark in their eyes. Like they forgot everything around them. Even the fact they were in this prison.  
Inner disillusion spread in Scratch. What had he to expect from this visit? Love? No, just the murderer of his mother and hundreds of other people including Parva´s father.

The only thing he could expect was maybe satisfaction. But nothing more, nothing beyond that. Sometimes he wondered if that was the only thing life had up its sleeve for him. He didn´t know if he could get more than that anymore. But at least that was still something that he could get.

Scratch sat down on one chair which were on both sides of the wall and waited. Luckily, for him, not too long. Another bored looking warder led a prisoner into the room. And it was once again like he looked into a mirror that showed his face before it was pressed into the forge fire.

"Ah, Mr .Scratch." grinned the dog and sat down on the chair on his side. Even if behaved relaxed and cool the wrinkles in his face and his deep eye circles told Scratch something different. For a short moment he thought _"That would have happened to me if I went astray."_ The guy must be treated very bad here what made his heart leap in joy.

"Mr. Young." Scratch giggled. "How are you? How is it to get raped in the shower almost every day?"  
"You get used to it." Not even a crack was visible in Young´s grinning façade. "How is momma doing? Still dead?"

But the same countenance Young had Scratch had, too. "I think so." He meant baldly. "But I think we both know why I am here."  
"Of course, of course." Repeated Young nodding. "But how about taking of this false mustache? You really look ridiculously."

Scratch didn´t answer. He couldn´t take of the beard. Only being here was a risk, but if he took of the beard it would take about one hour and he would sit in the cell next to Young.  
"Still a coward, Scratch? Well, some things never change."

Scratch leaned partly unbelieving partly impressed back in his chair. "I have to admit Young, I´m impressed. Really. I mean I do everything in my power to make the rest of your life to hell. You get insulted, beaten up and even raped almost every day but you swallow everything without… ha… without a scratch…"

"You did that?" Young raised an eyebrow. Finally a sign that his façade would crumble.  
"Impressed?" laughed Scratch. "It´s actually quite easy. I mean half of the people in there owe me something and the other half would kill so that I owe them something."  
"That… doesn´t impress me."

"Really?" probed Scratch. "I mean big Jim hasn´t visited you yet and, to be honest, he isn´t called big for nothing." Together with his last words he indicated with his finger to his crotch and received a long stare from his nemesis. _"Cracked"_ thought Scratch triumphing. He had interpreted the signs in Young´s face right. He had just played the cool guy.

"But…" began Scratch again. "Just as I´m able to make your martyr worse I´m also able take the squeeze of you. You just have to tell me what you know."  
Fast Young looked furtively to the sides and then leaned towards him. "And you can… make that they´ll leave me alone?"

"Sure."  
"Okay…" The killer took a deep breath. "I don´t know much. Really. I´ve never got my orders from the head of this all directly. Richards allways called me…" Young stopped as Parva entered the room who eyed him with hateful glares.

"Speak on." Ordered Scratch.  
"… okay. Anyway. As I said, Richards just called me."  
"That´s not even almost enough." Meant Scratch shaking his head. "I don´t think that I can…"  
"Wait wait wait… there´s more." Interrupted Young quickly. "I received all these calls in the mayor´s office."

"So mayor Willson was present while all of these talks?"  
"Yes, he was and more. Willson seems to be the voice´s right hand... or left hand after Richards. I think everything that comes from the voice converge in him. Just Richards is above him. I bet that both of them knew the voice´s identity."

"Interesting." Scratch scratched his false beard. "That was really a valuable piece of information."  
"So we have a deal." Young sounded pleading and not so relaxed like at the beginning of the conversation.

"Yep… kind of." Scratch stood up and gave the crocodile at the end of the room a little nod.  
"Hey, what´s going on here?" It was too late as all alarms went off in Young. He was so deepened in the talk with Scratch that he also hadn´t realized that the warders behind him left the room minutes ago. The giant crocodile tramped undisturbed towards the dog.

Young was maybe faster and more talented than the crocodile but he had no chance against its sheer muscle power with which it rammed the self-made knife into the throat of the dog. _"Carotid artery, direct hit"_ analyzed Scratch in his mind. _"Maybe he has just a half a minute left."  
_  
With both hands pressed Young desperately on his wound and gargled with his last strength looking at Scratch. "Bastard…"  
"REALLY?" screamed Scratch bursting into laughter. "YOU REALLY THOUGHT THAT I WOULDN´T KILL YOU?!"

But Young couldn´t hear these words he already negotiated with the ferryman for the ride. Scratch enjoyed this moment a few seconds longer and he could hear how Parva behind him breathing heavily. She started to laugh like she had never expected that this would happen or that this would be so great. Whereas the female dog that had talked to the stabber just screamed in disbelieve "WHY DID YOU DO THAT?!"

"Time for us to go, Parva. Before they close off everything here." Whispered Scratch after his eyes had finally tire of looking on his bleeding enemy.  
"Yep, you´re right." Agreed Parva and followed him down the dirty floors. This time they walked faster so that the warders wouldn´t get them. And fast they breathed clear free air again.

"See?" panted Scratch exhausted. "I told you that it would be great. And by the way, happy birthday."  
"Thanks." Replied Parva "Even if you were pretty cruel in there. I mean you betrayed him ice cold."  
"I know…" grinned the dog. "But he didn´t deserve anything else. I did nothing he hadn´t done. And, according to your laughter, you enjoyed that too."

"Yeah, sure… it was an interesting feeling, almost invigorating. But now I ask myself… if we handle things like he did… where is the difference between him and us?"  
"This time… I think there is no difference between him and us." Mumbled Scratch pensively. "Damn you just spoiled the whole thing for me, you know that?"

"Then forget about it." Sighed Parva changing the subject. "Oh, I almost forgot. A guy named… Ronald called before the other call. And he said something about an important business deal. And that he want to meet you in New York"

"Oh, damn… Ronald?" Scratch asked pulling his beard of his face. Ronald didn´t call often, just if it was extraordinarily important. He was the guy in which hands Scratch laid the whole drug trafficking thing on the west coast. A really talented financial genius who also had some creative ideas for laundering the money. The thing that made it all odd, why did Ronald want to meet him in New York? Scratch was controlling the west coast drug trafficking. Of course they had a little office in New York but just for expansion purpose.

"Yes, Ronald. And he said you should come and take care of it."  
"Hm…" meant Scratch. As already mentioned, Ronald was talented. Something really serious must have happened that made him beg for Scratch help. "Okay… we have to redispose. Parva, go to Seneca and do the first thing without me. You two will make, don´t worry."

"And what are you doing?" wondered Parva.  
"I?" Scratch asked. "I have to catch a flight."

**- "Scientia potentia est" = "Knowledge is power"-  
-Okay, another chapter is done. Hope you enjoyed this chapter :D-**


	10. Airport vulcano

"Last call for fight 1273 Petropolis-Asuncion." An irritated tinny sounding voice screamed through the speakers of the almost empty baggage claim hall. And like it sounded was the person behind this voice was already in the last throes of a 12 hour shift.

But maybe it was just an angry rebel against the tiring job itself that made the voice sound like that. Whatever it was, Kitty didn´t really cared about it. "Not my flight." She thought weary. With long heavy steps she shuffled towards the baggage conveyor belt on which one suitcase last suitcase made bored its circles.

Kitty had yielded to the swarm of locusts that rushed besides her as soon as the "fasten seatbelt" signs have been turned off. It was a miracle that this crowed hadn´t stomped her to death. Kitty was always amazed how impatient the people were.

Didn´t they know that if everybody went with the same pace, slowly but steady, down the halls that they would get faster to their aim? It seemed like the answer to that was no. Rather ten people try to squash through a door for two. Was that stupidity or just the nature of the people? Or is stupidity the nature of the people?

Whatever it was, it wasn´t part of Kitty´s nature. Of course she also wasn´t the most patient person but while working as a secret agent she gained more patience. She lifted the suitcase from the conveyor and put it on the integrated wheels. She wanted to leave the airport and finally take care of the damn Scratch-problem but, as always, the wheels of the suitcase packed up.

"Of course" laughed Kitty resigning and then continues with a facial expression of disbelieve. "Of course! What else should happen? Only one time, why can´t just one time everything work properly?! Do I want too much?" Her resignation turned slowly into anger that was fueled by her indicting the suitcase.

"Why do you hate me?! What have I ever done to you? I bought you, gave you a nice place in my closet, I treated you right and you still do that to me! Why?!" Kitty really gazed for a short while at the case waiting for an answer until the regrowing voice of rationality in her head reminded her of the essential. She was talking with a piece of luggage! Luckily for her, the hall was totally empty.

Otherwise the whole thing would have been pretty embarrassing. A grown up trying to talk sense into container for her laundry… that was more Dudley´s style.  
Taking deep breathes Kitty grabbed the suitcase by its handle and carried it not willing to give the wheels another chance.

She schlepped the thing through the hall just to arrive in the next hall. Calm and again a bit tired, so actually in the state in which she was before she got worked up, Kitty gazed around in the arrival hall. There should be someone to fetch her, but the hall was as empty as the last one.

"Right… why should that work?" shaking her head she was about to leave the airport and take one of the taxi that parked in front of the entrance. But as she pulled at the handle of the suitcase the exerted force wasn´t transmitted to the rest of it and made it move, no, the force more or less detached the handle from the suitcase.

"Really?!" Kitty stared stunned at the handle in her hand. "You got to be kidding me! YOU GOT TO BE KIDDING ME!" That was enough for her. Furiously she started to kick the luggage. Again and again with all her strength. A good suitcase hadn´t survived this maltreatment very long and this one was far beyond good quality.

It was no big surprise that this one did what it did and almost exploded. Dozens of pieces of clothing flew through the air, like some kind of clothing volcano erupted. The negative part of that, besides the obviously negative part that clothes flew around, was that it was mostly her underwear that her suitcase emitted. So the ground was now covered with selection of underwear that would have driven a smile on the face of every lecher.

"Shit!" she cursed at the sight of her lingerie on the floor. Fast she pulled her boot out of the defiled suitcase and began even faster to pick up her clothes.  
"Excuse me…" a male voice from behind her startled Kitty while picking up her clothes and let her face went bright red. A few quiet curses went over her lips as she turned around.

These swears became immediately louder as she recognized the face of the stranger. A trained defensive reflex switched on and took control of her body for just a few seconds that were enough for her to pull her gun out and press it into the face of the white dog with the big black nose and the blue eyes.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?!" she shouted at the dog and tried to suppress the shivering of her hand. But in a contrary he hands, the hands of the dog trembled like aspen leave as he put them up. "Nothing! Really nothing! Some of my luggage is still missing after my flight and I just wanted ask if they finally found it. Please don´t shoot me!"

"DON´T FUCK WITH ME, YOUNG! HOW DID YOU ESCAPED OUT OF PRISON?"  
"Young?" asked the dog terrified. "I´m not Young! You must mistaking me for someone else. My name is Stan…"

"Yeah sure!" interrupted him Kitty. "I don´t give you the chance to fool me again." Her index finger clasped the trigger of the gun.  
"NO NO PLEASE NO!" begged the dog falling onto his knees. "PLEASE I HAVE A DAUGHTER! DON´T KILL ME!"

"You never stop lying, right?"  
"I´M NOT LYING!" cried the dog. "Here in the pocket of my jacket is the proof. Look into my wallet and you´ll find pictures of here. BUT DON´T SHOOT ME!"

Suspiciously and not willing to let her gun down Kitty reached in the pocket of so called Stan and fished the wallet out of it. She opened it and indeed, there were a lot of photos of a little girl. Also an ID-card was there. As Kitty read the dogs full name it was like someone packed lead on her arm. She holstered her gun and handed the wallet back to its owner.

"Thanks" breathed the dog released as the gun was out of his sight.  
"Sorry… I´ve really mistaken you." replied Kitty eying Stan. She knew that Dudley had a brother. As they were still together he often told her about his older brother Stan. Dudley had really looked up to him. If that´s still the fact after his transformation to Scratch was unknown to Kitty.

However, Kitty never had the pleasure to meet Stan. He really looked like Dudley maybe he was a bit taller than him but apart from this the brothers looked like twins.  
It was somehow peculiar that after a so long relationship Kitty knew no one from Dudley´s family besides his mother.

And she didn´t know if that really counts because Peg was dead. Dudley had visited his brother a few times but never took her with him. So she began to wonder if it was maybe embarrassing for Dudley to have a relationship with her. But as she told him her reservations he answered with the sentence:

"You embarrassing for me? Kitty, how could you ever think that? I would like to show you around everywhere if I could… I sometimes also do that, I have this lovely photo of you in my wallet. No, if someone is embarrassing for the other one, I would be the one who is embarrassing for you." Kitty laughed back then. All her self-doubts were wiped away with these few words. Dudley just knew what to say to calm her.

"Yeah but is that a reason to put a gun at my forehead!" meant Stan with the courage of somebody who knew that he wouldn´t get shot. "Dammit what´s wrong with this city? This once was a wonderful place! And now you just have to go around a corner to get a gun pressed tightly to your forehead. I mean, how likely is it that this happens twice?"

"Again, sorry I… wait, twice?"  
"Yes." He hissed. "My little brother Dudley fooled me. He pressed his gun at my forehead and pretended that he want to shoot me."  
"Yeah that´s his new prevent humor." Sighed Kitty.

"So you know Dudley?" Stan seemed surprised what maybe came from the fact that a random person on the airport knew his brother. "Oh, by the way, I haven´t introduced myself yet. Stan Puppy." He offered her his hand to shake it.

"I know, I saw your name on your ID-card" smirked Kitty shaking his hand "Kitty Katwell."  
"Really? You are Kitty Katswell?" Again Stan was surprised. The random person that collected underwear from the ground was the ex of his brother.  
"So you know me?"

"Of course." Laughed Stan. "The three times Dudley visited me, while you two were in a relationship, he just talked about you as I asked him something about him. It was always Kitty here and Kitty there. It was almost annoying… but also it was wonderful to see him so happy. It´s pity that you two broke up. Besides do you know what happened to his face? He didn´t want to tell me as I asked him."

"I know it but… I think you should ask him. It´s part of his vendetta."  
"Uhm… pardon?" asked Stan confused.  
"Nothing" meant Kitty and changed the subject. "So you´re searching for your missing luggage?"

"Yes, and you´re collecting underwear from the ground?"  
Kitty blushed a bit but confirmed the question with "Yes".  
"I have an idea." Meant Stan folding his arms. "We both don´t want to spend more time than necessary with our suitcases, right?"

"Right."  
"Then why don´t we help each other? Look, I get a new suitcase for you, I bet somewhere here you can buy one, while you gather your clothing. Then we pack the stuff into the new suitcase and search together for my luggage. How does that sound?"

"Like a plan." Nodded Kitty grinning and searched for her wallet but Stan stopped her  
"No, the first suitcase for a lady is always for free." Winked Stand smiling.  
"I can´t accept that."  
"You have to. It´s not that you have a choice."

"Then let me at least invite you to a coffee after that, to make it up to you." suggested Kitty.  
"Wonderful, that also sounds like a plan." Beamed Stan "Okay then, I better get moving. See you in a minute." Full of enthusiasm the dog ran towards one of these totally overpriced airport stores where instant coffee has the price level of Beluga caviar.

Smiling watched Kitty him running. She felt like she watched Dudley. Also the whole conversation she felt like she had talked to Dudley. A good familiar feeling spread in her chest. Stan looked similar to his brother and his whole attitude was similar to Dudley´s pre-Scratch attitude. And that was just… wonderful.

Still smiling she averted her gaze from Stan and started to pick up her stuff again, not knowing that she had a second watcher. A hidden watcher that observed the whole scene from the distance. Even if hidden was a bit exaggerated because that would mean Scratch had watched the scene from some kind of cover like a wall or column. That was of course not the case.

His real cover was his disguise as an old man with a white wig and one of these hated false beards in the same color. And to make the whole disguise perfect he used a special makeup that made his face look like it was full of wrinkles. Also he used green contact lenses, actually the same he used the whole time before he revealed his true identity to Kitty.

The outfit he wore would fit for a sixty year old. A conservative brown suit with patches on the elbows. A walking cane with which aid he walk gave the impression of physical weakness. And last he changed the shape of the glasses he usually wore. From square to round ones. Scratch was sure, with this disguise he wouldn´t get recognized by anyone.

That neither Kitty nor Stan did that was a little proof for him. Even if they probably hadn´t seen him, actually he stood pretty far away from them. But that was enough for him. He felt safe and that made the whole thing easier for him. Slowly, playing his role as senior citizen as good as possible, he dragged himself forward with the cane.

The lady on the counter, a young vixen wearing the light blue uniform of the airline she was working for, gave him this pitying look. Scratch knew immediately as he saw her big brown eyes that he could get almost anything from her with that disguise.

"Excuse me madam." He coughed using his best old man voice. "I´d like to book a flight."  
"Of course Sir. Where do you want to go?" asked him the vixen friendly.  
"I need an economy flight to New York. I want to visit my grandchildren. You know, I just became a great-grandfather."

"That´s fantastic, congratulations!" Scratch could see honest joy in her eyes. Others would maybe get a feeling of guilt on that point but perversely the fun just began here for Scratch.  
"Thank you." he said and started to shiver a bit. Not much, just enough that the vixen would recognize it.

"Is everything okay Sir?"  
"Yes yes. It´s just…" Scratch broke-off his answer and started a heavy coughing fit what was a simple thing for him because of his chronicle lung-illness. The only thing he had to look out for was that he wouldn´t start a real coughing fit through the faked one. The girl would definitely call an ambulance and his cover would be blown.

"Sir, are you really okay?"  
"Yes. That´s just what happens when you get old. Everything deteriorates. Especially your health. Well, that´s life I think."  
"Sorry to hear that Sir. The ticked costs…" Scratch cut the vixen short by moaning loudly and holding his left hand on his back. "Sir, are you okay?"

"Just my back. My spinal disks always slip out. It´s really annoying." Scratch kept on holding his hand on his back and contorted his face as heavy in non-existing pains as he could. That was a key moment now. If he played his role good enough the vixen had swallowed the bait and he would get what he wanted any second now.

"I can´t let you fly economy in this condition." She meant saying the expected words. "Sir, let´s do this, the plane is almost empty, I will upgrade you to the first class for free."  
"Thank you madam." With still a painful look Scratch handed the vixen the money for an economy class ticket and received a first class ticket.

"No problem Sir." She smiled. "Have a good flight and greet your great-grandchildren."  
"I will do that." Laughed Scratch and walked away waving goodbye with his back to the counter.  
"That worked excellent." Scratch laughed in his sleeve. "I´m still the best."

Usually it would be easy for Scratch to buy this ticket from his money. The ticket and also maybe the whole airline. This little theater play was just for him. Over the last days he became a bit unsure if still had talent to manipulate and fool people. Obviously he still had it.

The boarding went smoothly. For a short time Scratch was worried that maybe some kind of face recognition software would be able to look through is mascaraed. Through his false wrinkles directly into his reconstructed face. But apparently he did his job so good that not even the high-performance computers were able to rip the mask of his face.

And as he finally sunk down in his comfortable first class seat he thrust aside his worries. What was less because of the fact that he was save now. No, there was no place he could call save anymore, no place to hide for him at least not in this country.

The execution of this FBI agent, at least that was his opinion, was just too obvious and because of that something he wouldn´t get out so easy. Of course there were ways and means to get his neck out of the noose. He could bribe some people.

Together with one of these expensive lawyers he was sure that he could make a death sentence to a fine of maybe 10,000 Dollar. In his mind he laughed bitterly about this fact. These days financial crime was sentenced stricter than bodily harm or even murder.

Also Seneca often said that he would handle that. Scratch had no idea what the lion meant with that. Maybe his old friend still had a trick up his sleeve. That wasn´t impossible, Seneca was may rather nondescript but he was a sly old guy. Just like him.

Anyway, the actually reason for the relaxation that spread in him was the even for the first class unbelievably comfortable seat in which he let himself sank down. It was like he was sitting on a cloud while actually flying above them. It was so good that he decided to close his eyes for a moment and sleep a bit.

"Excuse me Sir, would you please fasten your seatbelt? We´ll take off in a minute." He heard a voice from the side addressing him. That was peculiar. Of course the stewardesses checked right before the start if everyone was strapped but Scratch always did that in the moment he sat down, exactly to prevent this conversation. The less conspicuous he was the better.

"I am…" the words came to a standstill in his throat and began to expand there so that he couldn´t get a single word out of it. The stewardess was no one else than Kitty who gave him a friendly grin. But here appearance there and the kindness in her face weren´t the strangest thing about her.

That was a big crimson stain on her chest which had a big combat knife in its center right where the heart was. And it was rammed until the hilt into her. Now, together with that, the grin looked more manically then friendly.

"Here for you." With this spooky stare Kitty passed a tablet with a knife on it to him. "I think it´s time for the final stab."  
Scratch gazed at her in disbelieve. What did she just demand?

"Come on, it´s time. You know that the it´s necessary." It was something urging in her voice. Like she wanted to do that quick because she running out of time. Scratch was too confused to do something but unfortunately he was no longer in control of his senses or his actions.

What happened then was for him like he was just a specter in his own body. His fingers embraced the handle of the knife on the tablet, he took a swing and drilled the knife deep into her flesh.  
No noise of pain came from Kitty, she kept silent.

As Scratch let the knife go the only thing that came from her was a cold whisper "Finally." Then she collapsed on the narrow aisle. And Scratch just looked at the body, watched how slowly a pool of blood dyed the blue carpet red. The muscles in his face pulled his lips to a smile. "Yes, finally" he mumbled and even started to laugh.

Dripping with sweat the dog woke up with a start. He leaned forward in his seat and began to breathe heavily. What was that? What had he just dreamt? And especially what was that at the end? In shock he continued breathing. In and out. Cool air to hot breath.

Why did he dream that? Weren´t dreams not kind of manifestations of secret wishes? So why did he want to kill Kitty? The clutter of questions turned in his head and he felt like he was in a carousel. Everything began to spin. To be on a safe side Scratch reached his hand out for the sick back.  
"Are you okay, Sir?" one of the Stewardesses must have seen him in his condition and stepped helpful to him.

Blinking he looked into her face and calmed a bit down as he saw that it had not even a similarity to Kitty´s. "No… I´m just a bit… you know the flight…" he lied coughing and tried to keep the content of his stomach in his stomach.

"Okay. But please, if it deteriorates, don´t hesitate to call me or my co-workers. Just push the button above your seat." She pointed at a small red button above his head.  
"Thanks… uhm Madam?" Because of this weird dream he almost forgot the most important thing and that wasn´t the weird dream just had.

"Yes Sir?"  
"When will we arrive at our destination? I have to do an important call soon." He patted against his breast pocket to show and to assure himself that his cellphone was there.  
"We´ll be in New York in about two hours."

"Excellent, thank you."  
The Stewardess nodded and left with the words. "You´re welcome Sir."  
Scratch gazed after tired after her just to recheck that she didn´t transform into Kitty. Not for all the world he wanted to go back in this dream or recognize that he still dreamt it. Even if he was tired to death he decided now to stay awake now.

He would do something else now, maybe watching a movie would be not so bad? Everything was better than concerning with this dream now. Really, everything.


	11. Negotiations

If you had asked Adrian Robson to describe himself with three words they would be punctual, conscientious and fair. And that´s also what every police officer in Petropolis would say about their boss. Punctual, conscientious and fair.

Robson wasn´t just a person you liked to have as your boss, he also was a person who was easy to become friends with. It was amazing. He made a stellar career on one hand but was on the other hand able to make just a few enemies. And most of these enemies he made then again to friends.

That was an impressive and unique talent. But even though Robson liked to surround himself with people in the public he was at home more the lone wolf. He liked to read classics. He was especially taken by the Russian literature at the moment. Tolstoi and Nabokov he had already read. Of course not everything, that would be even for a fast reader like him a five year long task, but the most distinguished works he had already read.

Now he was reading 'Crime and punishment' by Dostojewski. And he drank wine while doing that. But in a contrary to the literature classics the wine was more a discount product. Anyway, both activities were no group activities. Nothing you could share with others, except you would be in one of these book clubs he hated.

Just a few pretentious wiseacre that try to interpret the book even if they didn´t even get the sense of it. Well, of course, he also sometimes didn´t get the sense of a book right but he also not pretended to be the wisest of the wise.

Of course he also had a wife and kids, two to be precisely. But he didn´t spend much time with them. He was the lonely wolf, he loved them and when he was in public he also was together with them but when he was at home he locked himself in his room and started reading.

And so he did this evening. With one significant difference, his wife took his kids and went on a weekend trip to his parents-in-law. His wife hadn´t even asked him if he wanted to join them. Because of goodwill, she knew that he hated his parents-in-law and loved the solitude.

Robson turned the page. He was sitting in his little bibliotheca in front of the fireplace. His feet put up on a footrest which was, like his armchair, made from claret velvet. It was the perfect place to read, especially in the winter months. Really cozy, like you were back in the womb… just with something to read. Paradise.

Again Robson turned the page. He was on the last page now. He hated that. The end, that was the worst part about a book for him. And that didn´t depend on how the book ends. He read good, fantastic and really bad endings but the really annoying thing about every ending was the feeling that stayed. The feeling of 'What now?' What should he read next? The decision and the grieve of having to stop to read were the hardest things to cope with.

The last paragraph. The feeling started to stir up in his chest. He didn´t want it to end now, he wanted to read on and on. But there are things that are just unavoidable.

The last sentence. His eyes flew over the letters. He braked his speed to delay it, but then it happened and it was like always the worst thing of the book.

The dot.

A long sigh slithered out of Robson. He laid the book on the brown wooden table beside the armchair and leaned back. "What´s next?" he whispered to himself. Robson stood up and he strolled leisurely to his big bookshelf which was filled with a lot of book he had already read and a few that were still pending.

With his index finger he ran over the back of the books. He stopped after a while of searching at Tolstoi, War and peace. The weighty tome was a pretty big job. 1,440 pages that wanted to be read. Smiling he took the book out of the shelf.

He was about to sit down again but the phone started ringing. Robson began to sprint out of the room down the stairs. That had a certain reason, the phone was on the other end of the house. Of course he could just take the wireless phone with him, but it happened often enough that while one of his intensive reading sessions the batteries get low.

The wisest thing was to run everytime he heard it ringing. Robson took that sportingly, the tall black puma had recently recognized the he gained some weight over Christmas. So thawed a few calories and ran to the phone.

"Hello?" he coughed a bit exhausted into the speaker.  
"You were in better shape once." Droned the voice earpiece. "I mean back then, when you´ve been a police officer."

"Who is there?"  
"You don´t know me? I recently sent you a little present. I thought we were friends now."  
Robson swallowed. "Scratch…"  
"Right! Good work." Laughter came from the speaker. "But it wasn´t really hard, was it?"

"Why do you call me? What do you want?" Robson didn´t beat around the bush, he came straight to the point. Also because he usually not used have lively conversations with people that wanted to see him dead, actually he had never talked to someone who wants to see him dead.

"Why I am calling? Can´t you figure it out yourself?"  
Robson´s pulse made a jump. From calm to 180. "What?"  
"You should have seen your face Robson." Again this disgusting laughter came through the phone.

From where did Scratch know what his face looked like in that moment? The truth almost let him freeze right at his spot. This psychopath was somewhere outside of his house, watching him. Maybe aiming right in this second with a rifle at his head!

Robson had to do something and even if that was just gaining some time to think of an escape plan. Luckily for him, his experience dictated him what to do in this moment. Hectically he closed the curtains and stepped away from the window so that Scratch couldn´t aim at him directly.

"You really think that I´ll just shoot you? No. No! You will bow out with a bang."  
"Scratch let´s talk about that." He meant, his body still pressed at the wall beside the window. "I think we can work that out. What do you want?"

"I want the lives of 231 innocent people back." Scratch´s voice suddenly became frosty.  
"You know that I can´t do that!" called Robson who moved slowly towards the main door, he had to lock it. That would buy him some time if Scratch wants to try to get in and stab him or something.

"But I could help you with your drug trafficking business here at the west coast. That should bring a pretty penny, what do you think?"  
"You try to safe your pathetic life by every mean, right?" he said slowly and Robson knew, even though he didn´t saw it, that Scratch was shaking his head in disbelieve right now. "I want to ask you something. You just read 'Crime and punishment', if my information are correct."

"From where…"  
"Oh come on, I bugged your house." Sighed Scratch annoyed. "Go into your library and look into the corner next to your red armchair. And please, smile for the camera then."  
"Scratch come on…" tried Robson again with the diplomatic method. But his voice sounded much more nervous now. "I can help you. I know where the other three are! Where they eat, where they work, everything!"

"Tss…" hissed Scratch with more disbelieve in his voice through the line. "I expected much of you, Robson. But not that you´re such a rat. You would really sacrifice your friends just to save yourself?"  
"I have to! I mean I am needed! My kids and my wife… You can´t do that!"  
"You wouldn´t believe how often I heard that. And you wouldn´t also believe how often I gave a damn."

"But I… I…" Stammered Robson.  
"Enough!" Shouted Scratch cutting him short. "Crime and punishment. You committed the crime, now it´s time for the punishment. Have some nice last seconds…"  
"No Scratch, please! SCRATCH!" but the only thing he received from his phone was the dialing tone that tooted cruelly.

Robson had to get out of here! No matter how, he had to leave the house. Whatever Scratch had planned he wasn´t save here. Pure panic drove him. And this advisor drove him towards the door, the only way out. A loud creak echoed through the house, but Robson was already too much in his panic to hear that.

"Where are my keys!" he screamed and rummaged through his pockets. He just had them as he locked the door! Where were they gone?  
Again the creaking. It sounded like the whole house would moan in pains. This time also Robson heard the sound. Terrified he dropped the keys he just fished out of one of his pocket.

"No!" he whined. He bent down to get the keys but it was too late. The house´s moan turned into a terrible scream of death. It was over for Robson, the book with his story was closed now. He reached the dot of the story of his life.

Giggling took Scratch the phone away from his ear. He didn´t just hung up the phone. He gripped it with both hands and broke it into two pieces. T.U.F.F. should try to locate this phone now or him.  
"If they really manage to get me now, without any trackable device and in this disguise, I will surrender." He laughed in his mind.

Slowly he strode to the window and opened it. Scratch couldn´t just threw the cellphone in the trash here in this building, he had to get rid of it in a way that no one who should find it would find it. At least not immediately. The building on the opposite side of the street was lower than the skyscraper he stuck his head out.

It seemed like a good place to hide old hardware. With a move of his hand that looked like he was throwing a Frisbee in the park he disposed of the evidence. "All done" sighed Scratch contented and sat down on the blue plastic chair that stood next to the door that led to the main office.

He was tired of this room, which was designed by an interior decorator that understood blue not as a color but more as the theme for the room. For a while now he had gazed at the blue carpet, the blue walls, the blue ceiling and the blue furniture that easily went missing among all of this blueness. And slowly but steady the whole room melted into a big blue lump.

Why did he have to wait here anyway? This was one the office his company bought to pretend that they are a normal company. This blue lobby, the main office, the chairs the carpet… all this belonged to him. So why did he have to wait?

"Hey Scratch." He heard Parva asking over the transmitter in his ear. "You´re still waiting?"  
"Yes…I do" he replied tartly.  
"Okay, okay… stay calm! I´m not the one who you should concentrate your anger on."  
"I know, but haven´t we discussed that we use the transmitter just for mission relevant purposes?"

"Oh god, okay." She sighed indignantly. "I´ll switch it off!"  
"I appreciate that!" Scratch didn´t know if she still received this answer or if she had cut the communication off right away after saying what she said.

Afterwards, he regretted a bit that he reacted so harsh to her attempt to talk to him, especially after she did such a good job describing him everything Robson did so he could scare him with that. He was really bored and could have needed someone to talk to. But after what happened in Paraguay he tried to maintain radio discipline. And asking him if he still had to wait was not part of that discipline.

Scratch stood up and stared at the door to the office. He would have a serious talk with Ronald, that was sure. And with serious Scratch meant screaming him down. And with talk he meant just him screaming. The longer he stood in front of this door the angrier he got.

If Ronald just called him because of some banalities the whole thing wouldn´t end so nice for the guy with the degree in business administration.  
"Okay, enough is enough." Thought Scratch after further ten minutes had past. Angrily he opened the door and stormed into the office just to come bewildered to stop after a few steps.

Behind the big oak table, on which usually Ronald or he was sitting, a fat pink rabbit got himself comfortable. It had laid its feet on the desk and puffed relaxed an expensive seeming cigar. Next to him stood two big gorillas in tuxedoes aiming with their machineguns at Scratch.

In the left corner of the room, on a small chair, there was Ronald. The cuckoo with the round glasses avoided any eye contact.  
"Guys guys… put the guns down." Laughed the rabbit and put his feet from the table. "Scratch, you finally arrived."

It took Scratch another second to grasp the whole situation. He tried to understand what happened in that moment and the result of his attempt was that he had no clue. So he did the best he could do in such a situation.

Smiling and being the same devil he always was. "Well well. Ronald told me that we have a problem but I never thought it would be so… heavy."  
"You never lose your humor, right?" smirked the rabbit and adjusted the tie of the suit that looked as expensive as the cigar.

"Humor is an attitude to life, Richard. You can´t lose that." Retorted Scratch.  
"Even if it´s cynicism in your case Scratch"  
"Maybe…" admitted the dog grinning. "But you can just become a cynic in a world in that people like you are still alive."

"Of course, you´re right." Said Richard standing up. "I mean, it was me who erased whole villages from the map."  
This comment wiped the smirk of his face. "From where do you know that?!"  
"Oh, I have my sources. And it´s a good source… I know almost everything now, Scratch. Or do you prefer Dudley Puppy?"

Scratch clenched his hands to fists. With joy he had rammed them into Richard´s face that looked right now like it was just a big grin. But he keep his countenance, he couldn´t venture to make mistakes now.

"I know everything now." Richard walked around the desk. "You were born in Petropolis. Your father´s name was Frank and your mother´s Peg. You also have a brother called Stan…"  
"Do you want to tell me every detail of my former life?" interrupted the dog pretending to be bored. "Because I know this story pretty well."

"Wait wait wait. That´s not everything" Laughed the bunny with the anticipation of a kid before Christmas. "After some occasional jobs you somehow made it to become a T.U.F.F. agent. That was pretty impressive and it explained a lot of things for me. But let´s come to the real interesting part. Kitty Katswell."

Richard stopped his narration and examined Scratch´s face. He must have seen some reaction in it after he said the name because the grin of the fat bunny became wider. "This cat, this really pretty cat, was your girlfriend for quite a long time. But then, poof! You left the city, her and your old life. And why? To find the murderer of your mother. Knowing why you left and that you two were a couple gives me a unique opportunity."

Richard stepped so close to Scratch that he could smell his breath which was like sniffing at an ashtray. "I asked myself… how much would you pay to save an old flame? First I thought you would be the cold bastard you always were and not even lift a finger to safe her. That you forget what you two had. But as the rumor spread that you were in Petropolis and fought against this weirdo there, I investigated a bit further. You had contact with her, right? She even stood in your way. So the question arose, why is she still alive? I mean it´s usually not the way how you proceed. So I put two and two together and the result was that you still a fond of her." Richard laughed excessively loud and walked back behind the table.

"What do you want from me?" Scratch couldn´t utter more than a whisper, his throat was constricted. He felt like someone was attacking him with a garrote.

"Excellent, straight to the point." sneered Richard joyfully. "I make that short. Right in this moment an old friend of mine, a sniper, is aiming at Ms. Katswell´s head. She´s in her apartment right now and I think she´s watching T.V. Here convince yourself."

Richard turned the monitor on the table around so that Scratch could see the video transmission. Kitty really sat in her living room and watched unsuspectingly T.V.. Of course the whole thing could have been a spoof, just a recording from another day but the camera turned and the head of the sniper became visible. He wore a black ski mask, what made his face unrecognizable, and held the current edition of the Petropolis post in one of his hands. No doubt, that was live.

"So, with this basis for negotiation, here comes my offer. I recall my friend but in return I want everything that you got. Your whole empire."  
"WHAT?!" screamed Scratch outraged.

"You heard right!" confirmed Richard. "I even give you something extra. The symbolic sum of 10,000 Dollar. Just to let the contract look like a real one… you know… for the accounts department."

Again tried Scratch to understand what was just happening. Not only that he unmasked him and revealed his true identity, what was unbelievably embarrassing even for an ex-spy, he also extorted everything he had from him by using Kitty.

However he wasn´t just shaking his head in disbelieve, he was just a bit taken by surprise. Scratch actually had to admit that he had always foreseen something like that. And he was already in the middle of the preparations that this wouldn´t happen but it seemed that Richard took his chance in the right moment.

"So what is it Scratch? Old love or new money?"  
"And you promise me… not to hurt her?" Scratch received released laughter as an answer. "Unbelievable! I thought that you would never agree! I mean you! You are a murderous soulless monster, I never thought that you would feel enough for her to pay so much! I thought you would just go and let her die."

"I owe her something… ruined her life."  
"So?" Richard was still laughing but he also had this expression of amazement in her face. "You killed… I don´t know, thousands of people or something. You haven´t also ruined their lives or the lives of their families?"

"Now listen, you disgusting adipose bunny" Scratch started angrily. "What´s between that cat and me is not remotely your business."  
In spite of these insults Richard kept grinning triumphantly, in a contrary to his two bodyguard gorillas behind him who pointed with their guns at Scratch again. "How did you called the boss?" one of them shouted.

"Adipose. That means fat!" growled Scratch. "But how should somebody know that who is as ugly as stupid."  
"What did you just say?" asked the gorilla while his coworker giggled mischievously.  
"So, not just dumb also deaf, huh?"

"I won't put up with that any longer!" meant the gorilla and took aim at the dogs bald head. "Cat lover!"  
"Oh, it´s getting better!" smirked Scratch with all anger that bottled up in his stomach as undertone. "You are not even dumb and deaf, you are also a racist."

"ENOUGH!" ordered Richard and silenced everything around him. "You two, get out!"  
"But boss…"  
"Get out of the room before I beat you two out of here." Hissed the rabbit. Confused and also a little bit intimidated by their boss´s sudden mood change, the two yield.

"Oh… now I understand. This all is because of her right?" said Scratch who suddenly saw the daylight.  
"You took her away from me! And you´ll have to pay for that… And she has to pay, too."  
"I haven´t took her away from you… she, more or less, came to me."  
"You seduced her!" screamed Rabbit and pointed his index finger the psychopath´s face.

"I wouldn´t say that I seduced her, I just met her in that bar and… she almost threw herself at me."  
Scratch remembered the blue cat he got to know in this bar in Acapulco with the nice name. Nicole. She had something that interested him. That was neither her look, nor her body or her little black dress that accentuate like a second skin her voluptuous curves. It was the way she stared into her Martini, that caught Scratch´s attention.

He could feel deep sorrow coming from her. A pain that he just knew from himself, it was a revelation for him. Somehow these pains made them to some kind of twisted soul mates.  
Just a little conversation was needed for them to realize that.

She told him everything and he told her much. Nicole told him that her husband was abusive and that these little trips to Mexico were the only way to get away from him. It was almost something like love what Scratch and her shared.

For three days sweat dropped from the ceiling of the little dirty hotel room somewhere in down town Acapulco. Scratch remembered how their bodies found, sensuously twitching, a common rhythm and how the ecstasy catapulted them into a sweet delirium.  
But also this time had to end.

Richard somehow got to know of little their liaison. Maybe he had someone who spied on her, but that doesn´t matter in the end. Scratch luckily managed to get out of there. But Nicole stayed back. The thugs of Richard that Scratch hadn´t killed on his escape got her. He had never heard of her since then.

"If you hadn´t treated her like this… she would have never considered doing something like that." The dog sighed.  
"I treated her like queen!" the bunny gnashed his teeth.  
"Then tell me which queen gets called by her king a dirty whore? And which queen gets slapped by this king?" Scratch asked those questions in such a provoking way that he feared for a while that Richard will order to shoot Kitty.

But he didn´t do that, he just narrowed his eyes and gave him this hateful glare that turned into an evil smile. "You want to see her?"  
"What?"

"After her affair with you I had to be stricter. I have her around me all the time, now. To prevent her from going … astray." Richard paused a bit, it looked like he was swallowing down the anger that arose when he just thought about his wife and Scratch. "Come in, Nicole."

A door, that led to a little storage for classified business files, swung open and a trembling gaunt figure stepped through it. If Richard hadn´t told Scratch that this was Nicole, he had never recognized her. She looked so changed, it was almost surreal. But the worst thing were her eyes. Scratch remembered that she had sad eyes back then, but now there was no kind of emotion apparent in them.

"Seems like you destroyed another life." Chuckled the bunny.  
Scratch walked unbelievingly to her and stroked gently over her cheek.  
"What have I done to you?" he whispered to her. Nicole didn´t answer. Her eyes didn´t even focused him, it was like she stared past him into the distance.

He was almost about to turn away from her as he realized that her hand had grabbed his wrist. "Don´t go." He whispered back. Her voice sounded tired and like her throat was sore.  
"Richard… can I talk to her in private for a minute? I want to talk with her… about the old times. If that´s okay"

"Ha, you know what? I made such a big deal today, I give you two, two minutes. I don´t think that you´re able to fuck her in that time. Even you are not so fast." Laughing the rabbit left the room and closed the door tightly behind him.

"Nicole… I…" Scratch wanted to begin and apologize for everything but Nicole cut him short immediately.  
"There is no time for that now. I need your help." She explained with a fast voice and it was like she just awoke out of a coma. Her eyes finally focused him.

"Sure…" he said confused.  
"Good, listen now. I want you to bring my son to safety."  
"You got a son?!" He asked startled and added the question which was formed by the dark premonition that came to existence in his head "How old is he?"

"Yes, I have a son, and no, he´s not your son." This little remark calmed Scratch down a little "But have you to safe him. Get him out of the country. As far away as possible from Richard. I don´t want him to grow up with his influence around him."

"And how should I do that?"  
"You will find a way… raise him or find him a new family. Just get him away from Richard."  
"I should raise him?!" Scratch probed startled. "You really consider that? I don´t think that I´d be a good father… or a good influence for the kid."

"Scratch… I love my child and I wouldn´t put him into bad hands. Your means are maybe wrong but you have a right core. And you are better than Richard."  
Scratch thought for a second about that. It was crazy enough that Nicole had a child. But he should raise it? He couldn´t do that… not with his lifestyle. But he could at least do her the favor and safe the kid.

"I´ll do it. I´ll safe him and then I come back and safe you…"  
"No, that´s impossible." She interjected. "Richard, will search for you everywhere when I am gone."  
"And when his kid is gone? Won´t he turn around every stone to find him too?"

"Richard, doesn´t really give a damn about the boy. For him he is just an expensive nuisance. He often told me that he wouldn´t care if he disappears. But if you abduct me… he will hunt you, find you and kill you me and the boy…" In Nicole´s voice was so much fear, not even back then in Acapulco when the thugs of her husband where close to them she was so fearful. "Please… safe him…"

"Where can I find your boy?"  
"Three blocks away there is his kindergarten. His name is Gumball... Just say to him that you bring him to mommy. He´ll follow you then. Safe him, please."  
"I´ll find and safe him don´t worry." Assured Scratch

"Thank you." Nicole leaned forward and kissed Scratch gently on his lips. As soon as her lips detached from his she whispered. "Now go, don´t waste too much time."  
Scratch hurried to the door and called. "Almost there." Before he pushed the handle of the door down he turned around and said. "Goodbye Nicole."  
"Farewell Scratch" she replied, then he left the room.

In the lobby there was no trace of Richard, just the two gorillas were there. Both of them looked like that they were up for no good.  
Like a wall made of bad cut suits the two came closer. "I think we have to sort something out." Snarled the one who already tangled with Scratch.

"Oh, come on." The dog rolled his eyes. "Do you have any idea how much of guys like you lost their lives fighting against me? Really, I neither have time nor do I like to hurt you. Get out of my way."  
"Forget it!" meant the gorilla and laid his heavy hand threatening on Scratch´s shoulder.

"Wrong move…" Scratch grabbed the hand and held it tightly. In the same time pushed with his other hand hard against the elbow of his opponent, so that after snap the lower arm pointed into the wrong direction. But that was still no point to stop for Scratch, even if the first enemy wasn´t able to hurt him for now the second was still there.

And this one was already drawing his gun. Speed was the crucial factor now. Scratch let go the broken arm and jumped above the first gorilla´s body to grab the gun of the second and shove it out of the line of fire. He wasn´t a second too late because loud thunder already rumbled through the room.

Loud whistling drowned every other sound around him, not peculiar if a gun got shoot so close to your ear. Another one would be startled because of that, but Scratch was so experienced in fighting that unnecessary outer expressions couldn´t get him out of his concentration. With his shoulder first he rammed the gorilla aiming the stomach and brought the man coughing down, always with a hand on the gun.

Scratch lay on the ground wrestling with the pile of meat. He already felt the exhaustion taking over his body. It was always the same, the longer the fight was the more likely it was that he would lose it. His lung was the problem. Since his left lung could only be saved because of Fortuna´s goodwill it was hard for him to catch breath when he was physically active. So he tried as fast as possible to end a fight.

Also here he had to hurry. With the hand that didn´t control the gun he drew the knife which he was always carrying around with him. A few fast stabs into the side of his enemy were enough to let the limps of this gorilla sag. Scratch took the gun now, stood up and turned to the first gorilla who was about to get on his feet again.

But the dog prohibited that by adding some lead to his chest.  
"It´s not that I haven´t warned you." coughed Scratch watching the gorilla collapse dead to the ground. "But if you don´t want to listen, you have to find out the hard way." While saying that he pulled out a tissue and cleaned his fingerprints from the gun before he threw it on its bleeding owner.

Scratch left the room fast, he knew that he shouldn´t stay too long at a crime scene and besides that it wasn´t so great to spend time in a room with a dying guy and an already dead one. Moreover the adrenalin in his blood prevented him from staying calm. It was not just the fight, also the thing with Nicole that brought the hormone in his bloodstream.

Just when he was in the elevator and leaned against the closed iron doors he was able to catch some air. With deep breaths he inhaled the life spender. It made him feel better, physically, but it didn´t help to ignore the resounding defeat he just suffered.

"Dammit… dammit…" he mumbled to himself. "Dammit DAMMIT!"  
"That won´t help Scratch." A voice, outside of the elevator doors, sighed. The doors swung open noiseless and Ronald entered the elevator. "The situation is desperate. The contract valid. The ink dry." Tired he pushed the button for the basement. "I´m sorry."

" 'I´m sorry' doesn´t bring me my money back." Coughed Scratch.  
"I know!" moaned the cuckoo. "Why haven´t you just let Richard kill this cat? I mean you killed because of less. I mean the proof for that lies down the floor."

"I killed them because they attacked me it was just…"  
"Ah! Don´t come up with that shit." Annoyed took Ronald of his glasses and gesticulate furiously with them. "I heard about Paraguay. I heard what happened to this little town. Rumors spread, Scratch, like the fire napalm bombs spread and…" just a retching sound escaped Ronald´s throat because Scratch´s big paw already clutched it.

"Come on, speak on Ronald." Hissed Scratch threatening.  
"Killing me won´t solve your problems." Gagged the accountant.  
"I know." Meant the psychopath. "It never does that." He loosened the grab around the bird´s neck and stepped away from him. With a face contorted in pain Ronald pressed his hand on his throat.

"Okay, I understood. Paraguay is taboo topic. Okay okay. But your situation is still the same." He cleared his throat and swallowed a bit. His gullet still felt crushed but it was better than with Scratch´s hand on it. "We… you have no money."

The dog with the square glasses accepted the situation without a verbal comment. He just leaned against the elevator hull and beat the back of his head against the metal.  
"Destroying the elevator is also pointless."

"I´m trying to think." Replied Scratch closing his eyes. "Do we have any reserves?"  
"Just the 10,000 Dollar you just received."  
"Personal assets we could use?"

"Sure, I have a few millions left. But I won´t invest it into your crusade for vengeance."  
"That figures." Sniggered Scratch disparagingly.  
"What? No attempt to choke the bucks out of me?"

Scratch opened his eyes and stepped away from the wall. "I know you. You would rather die than giving your money away. That was a reason why I hired you back then. Money is your ideal. So you are a convinced idealist. And trying to make them do something against that ideal is almost impossible."

"Okay…" breathed the bird with relief. Scratch couldn´t resist smiling inwardly. Ronald had really believed that he would torture the money out of him. Okay, he thought of that but rejected this thought immediately. He somehow liked this bird and somehow he was also part of this strange family.

The stingy relative that nobody really likes but that you also give a hug to welcome him. And besides that Scratch couldn´t really effort to make more enemies.  
"What will you do now?" asked Scratch as the doors of the elevator opened after an extraordinary long elevator ride.

"I´ll retire…" answered Ronald to Scratch surprise, as they walked together towards the exit. "I have a house in Hawaii. I think I´ll enjoy Bahama mamas and coconut bras for the next fifty years… And you?"

Scratch stopped on the marble stairs outside of the building and turned towards Ronald. "I´ll resume my plan. What else? I mean I maybe just have a fraction of the budget but everything is fine besides that."

"I remember that you canceled plans when something like that happened in the past." Said the bird skeptically.  
"The last long plan I made ended in a disaster. This time my plan has a lot more room to move. Let´s see how that turns out this time."

"Ha! Seems like an old dog learned a new trick." Smirked Ronald and offered Scratch his hand to shake.  
"Right." Chortled Scratch and shook the hand of his former accountant. "Goodbye Ron. Maybe we´ll see again."

"If you don´t choke me, you can come and visit me every time."  
"I´ll remember that."  
With an indicated wave of his hand the cuckoo took its leave and disappeared in the flow of people that streamed down the sidewalk.

Also Scratch left the place of his Waterloo. Directly to the kindergarten Nicole described. He had an idea where he had to bring the little gumball. Though he had to spend a part of his budget for that. But Nicole was worth it.

**-Well, borrowed some characters from another fandom here. Try to guess which one. ;D Anyway another chapter done also a big one. Seems like the whole thing just got harder for poor old Scratch, let´s see how he´ll manage that.-**


	12. Fired

"The thing stagnates Keswick. And I don´t like that!" Jessica sighed with accusing tone of voice. She had folded her arms and was sitting in the big armchair behind her desk in her office.  
"Well, it´s not my fault that Scratch sank into oblivion and just left a m..m..messed up hotel room." Thundered Keswick and hit is fist on the table. Surprised winced Jessica back and almost fell over with her chair, she wasn´t used to see such emotional outbursts from Keswick. He was more the quiet shy guy who is actually pretty cool when you know him better.

"Keswick, settle down!" she ordered calm but emphatically and wondered immediately after saying that how weird those words sound out of her mouth. "What´s wrong with you? Since we´ve been in that hotel room you´re acting… god you´re acting like me!"  
"I´m acting odd? You don´t s..s..say" replied the scientist snippy. "You figured it out yourself or did s..s..someone help you?"

Jessica ignored skillfully Keswick´s provocations. She had learnt over the few days she was chief that she sometimes had to ignore things that people say. It was hard for her because that meant fighting against a part of her personality but if that meant that would bring her one step closer to her dream she would accept this aggression control training. Also Keswick was for Jessica a pretty likable person, so it wasn´t too hard ignoring that.

"I haven´t said that you´re acting odd, I said you´re acting like me. And I know that I have my reasons when I act like you do it now. So explain yourself!"  
Keswick walked around in front of the desk for a while, quarrelling with himself, before he sat down on the chair. "Okay…" he meant taking a deep breath. "I can´t get the p..p..picture of the hotel room out of my head."

"Ah! That´s all? I mean, okay the crime scene looked like it was out of a splatter film but it was I think two days ago also it wasn´t your first crime scene, was it? Just deal with it, okay?"  
"It´s not just the crime scene." Made Keswick clear. "More factors convene here."  
"Aha… and which one?" probed Jessica.

"Okay…" said Keswick again and stroked with his hands through his face. "But I have to go b..b..back a bit to explain that."  
"We have no clues so we have time." Meant Jessica and leant back in her armchair.  
"It´s been more than 15 years ago that I got to know agent P..P..Puppy. I remember him as a dim but friendly p..p..person. He was someone who had never inflicted damage on someone who didn´t h..h..harm him before. I can even remember our first encounter, how he s..s..smiled in this open way. I had never believed it that he could hurt someone… than he left the c..c..city. He left us and Kitty back here… and hurt us. I was angry but I thought all that time 'He had problems like we all, his reaction was rash. He didn´t do that intentionally.' Then we figured out that he is Scratch and h..h..heard of all these terrible things he did. My anger about him grew even more but still a part of me was unable to b..b..believe all he did..."

"So the crime scene we saw was finally the proof for you." interrupted Jessica Keswick with her thesis.  
"I´d rather say hard e..e..evidence but yes." Confirmed Keswick who stood up from the chair again and walked the two steps to the desk. "Now I can see the monster that a p..p..part from me never wanted to see." He laid both of his hands on the table and leaned closer towards Jessica, so close that she could smell his coffee-breath.

With finality in his eyes he whispered to her in an eerie way. "And I know that this m..m..monster has to be killed… by all means."  
"Yeah sure…" Jessica pushed his head with her index finger away from her. "Do whatever you want but do it AFTER we arrested him. When you get between me and my promotion, believe me, I´ll do the same to you what you want to do to Puppy."

"Whatever…" said Keswick and added almost disparagingly "Chief."  
"So, Keswick" replied imitating his tone of voice. "Any ideas how to get him?"  
"Actually, no. No activities of this bastard… at least no activities we k..k..know from. So no starting point for any investigations."

"Then, what are you still doing here? Get me something!" With a simple gesture which she repeated a few times she shooed Keswick out of the room.  
As he slammed the door shut she was finally alone again. She would have never admitted it but sometimes the little guy could be quite creepy. Especially when he did things like what he just did.

But it wasn´t just him, this whole T.U.F.F. branch here in Petropolis was, you can´t say it another way, fucked up. There was this nerd, then the crazy squirrel that was -even for someone who was used to madness- mad, the other agent that had nothing else to do over the whole day than do swivel chair races, and this penetrant other squirrel that always jar on her nerves… Rick was his name.

Although… Yesterday his behavior changed somehow. He seemed abstracted and stopped run after her in the office. Not that she didn´t appreciate this change but it was nevertheless noteworthy.  
A long gaze at her watch told Jessica that it was time for a break. She opened the upper drawer of the desk and got a pack of jelly beans out of it.

Before she opened the back and started to sort the jelly beans, like she always did, she put an underlay on the table, in this case the today´s newspaper.  
"I hope that there are more of the yellow ones this time." She mumbled to herself as she rummaged through the colorful pile in front of her. The newspaper underlay had, as it turned out, a key advantage.

While she was doing the moronic work of sorting she was able to read the newspaper headlines. It took it´s time of course before the main pile was so divided that she could read the first headline. 'Family reunion after 30 years.' It was an article about a family that was separated during the Rwanda Genocide but found each other again.

A touching story, at least that´s what Jessica believed after skimming the text, but not so interesting. Jessica wasn´t a friend of hearing family stories of others, her own family history was enough.  
As time went by more and more headlines became visible. 'World´s longest sandwich eaten!', '97 Wolfs found hidden in a cave after earthquake.', 'Police chief killed by explosion'.  
Jessica stopped for a second and took a closer look on one of the headlines.

"Police chief killed? Why wasn´t I informed about that." Fast she read through the text. It seemed that the boiler in the house of the police chief, Adrian Robson, exploded because of a broken overpressure valve. A tragic accident that was at least the tone of the article. But something about this left a bad aftertaste for Jessica. It was like she had already heard the name of the police chief.

But where? She thought a bit about the name and the penny dropped as she threw the last few yellow jelly beans in her mouth. She hadn´t heard that name but she read it. Namely in the file Kitty hid in the locked drawer of her desk. Fast she took out the file and opened it on the side where she once read Robson´s name. And she also found it there together with some other names under the underlined word 'conspirators'.

These four people were somehow connected to Scratch, otherwise they wouldn´t be in this file. But were they enemies or allies? Assuming that they were allies would mean one threat less for Jessica and would probably lead her to him. But the people on this list were bigwigs, she couldn´t just arrest them and interrogate them. Besides that Scratch didn´t seem to be the guy who was buddy-buddy with authorities.

So assuming the second alternative combined with the suspected accidental death of one of the conspirators just led to one conclusion.  
"Dammit" cursed Jessica gritting her teeth. "He fucked with us!"  
"He became quite good at that." It was like the voice came out of nothing and the cheetah looked up completely startled about the fact that someone suddenly was in her office.

That something like that could happen was a kick in the teeth for every spy. Someone is better than you and also managed it to get close to you without you recognizing it. It was a shame. And to make matters worse, especially her embarrassment, Kitty Katswell was the owner of this voice.

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING HERE?!" she shouted to hide her feelings under the pretext of anger.  
"What do you think? I canceled my vacation to help you out."  
"Completely unnecessary!" snorted Jessica with a bit more countenance. "We don´t need your help."  
"But it seems that you already took advantage of my help." With a slightly grin Kitty pointed on the file in front of Jessica. "I should really hide this thing somewhere else… Anyway, get out of this chair. That´s now my seat again."

"Oh, I doubt that. Don´t forget what you signed before you went on your little trip. I´m in charge for all of this for two weeks. Whether you return or not." With these words she leaned a bit calmer back in the chair.

But Kitty just shrugged. "So what? As I said I´m here to help."  
"And help with what?"  
"Scratch."  
"Well, actually, you can´t help with that." Explained Jessica baldly. "Those are my private investigations. Nothing that concerns you. But I think we will find a bit paperwork of which you could take care of."

"Jessica." Sighed Kitty rolling her eyes, what made Jessica grin mischievously. Generally, seeing Kitty being annoyed or angry, amused her. "Let´s put our cards on the table. I want to catch him, you want to catch him. Let´s work together."

"And why do you want to catch him?" Jessica knew of course why, but she wanted to keep her hanging on a bit.  
"That´s private." Meant the cat frostily.  
"Well, like my investigations. You have to be a bit more accommodating."  
"No. That´s just about me and him. So, you accept?"

"Hmm… see, I´d really like to know what exactly happened between you and Scratch." Jessica leaned even more back in the chair. She also put her feet on the table just to enjoy what would come next. "I mean what if you can´t be objective in this case because of … I don´t know… the aftermaths of an old relationship." With delight she watched how her little hint had an impact on Kitty.

Jessica observed how her frenemy froze at first, understanding what she meant, then read the short moment of pure disbelieve that was written on her face like a good book and, at the end, warmed herself at the fire that flared up in Kitty´s eyes.  
"From where do you… Keswick" she hissed furiously.

"Yep. The little guy was very talkative." Jessica giggled and wiped a little tear of laughter out of the corner of her eye. "You don´t really have a knack with men, have you?"  
"Shut it." Ordered Kitty with her eyes shut tight. It seemed that she tried to settle her thoughts by cutting herself off from the outside world. Jessica could leave her a second to do that so that both could continue and maybe have a constructive dialogue. But she didn´t want to. Instead, she rather beat the bee hive with a sledgehammer.

"I mean what have you done to Scratch or Dudley or whatever that he left you? I heard he was a nice guy until he was together with you."  
"Jessica, shut it." Repeated Kitty but this time her posture was less defensive. On the contrary, she already literally showed her claws.

"Oh I know, it was your dancing! If I remember correctly, your dance style looks like jelly during an earthquake…"  
Suddenly and without another warning Kitty jumped over the table in an attempt to add a few scars to Jessica´s face.

Unfortunately for Kitty, the cheetah already expected something like that and dodged her attack just by pushing herself in her swivel chair aside, what left the cat no other choice than braking her flight by colliding with the wall. The noise of Kitty´s wall collision was quickly drowned by Jessica´s laughter. "Ha! Thanks for that Kitty! You just made my day."

Dizzy but still angry and with a big lump on her head Kitty stood up from the ground again. "Jessica, I swear, I´ll kill you if you don´t shut up now." Her threat had a serious tone and Jessica knew at that point that she should stop now. She somehow had the feeling that otherwise Kitty would carry out her threat.

That would be untypically for her but also this little fit of anger was actually very untypical for her. At least untypical for the Kitty, Jessica remembered from back in the academy. Maybe Jessica had to rethink her impression of her. Quite many years passed and in front of her stood a new Kitty. A Kitty that would raise her fist and destroys the obstacles life throws in her way instead of trying to jump over them. A quite pleasant Kitty.

"Okay okay." Meant Jessica with slowly fading laughter. "I think I had enough fun for today. Calm down, I´ll shut up. I want your help."  
"And you think that this offer is still on the table."  
"As you said, you want to get him and I want to get him. I think that hasn´t changed."  
Kitty didn´t answer, she kept silent and folded her arms in front of her chest.

"Ah, come on. Don´t be like that." Jessica stood up and laid her arm on Kitty´s shoulder. "Cheer up!"  
"Why should I?" asked Kitty while she removed Jessica´s arm from her shoulder.  
"Because I already have an idea how to get Scratch."  
"And how?"  
"Easy. We´ll bring you into his organization."

"You can put that idea right out of your mind." Replied Kitty immediately. "First, Scratch would smell the rat immediately when I would come to him and say something like 'I made up my mind, I want to help'. Second, he wants to keep me out of his business. Or in his words, he wants to protect me. And third I also don´t want to become part of his club. We have to catch him in another way."

"Then tell me how." Said Jessica exasperated. "The only clues we have are based on speculations and this file of you. I thought you wanted to help!"  
"I want to help!" protested Kitty.  
"Then be helpful!"

"Okay" sighed Kitty giving in. "Then tell me how you want to get me into his team. And don´t forget, he does not want me to be part of it."  
"Yeah but you said he wants to protect you, right? That makes the whole thing much easier. We just pretend that you got fired from T.U.F.F.. I´ll blacklist you."  
"Ah I see!" meant Kitty understanding. "I´m on the blacklist. So no protection from T.U.F.F. anymore."

"Right." Confirmed Jessica. "Then we also spread some rumors that a few of your enemies heard of that and want to settle some old scores."  
"Good idea. That would mean if he really tries to protect me he has to be around me. And because I´m not a T.U.F.F. agent anymore…"

"…he will make you the offer to be part of his team." Jessica finished the sentence from Kitty and then added "What do you think?"  
"It could work." Admitted Kitty pensively. "But I think the crucial factor will be if we are lucky or not. I don´t really like the idea but if you´re right… then this is the only opportunity that we have."  
"Then start right now." Even though that was just a fake Jessica enjoyed her next sentence. "Get out of my office you´re fired!"

But the emotionless answer that Kitty let out with the 'I don´t give a damn' tone of voice destroyed the nice illusion fast. "Oh no, how could you after all this time I worked here bla bla bla…" she yawned as she walked out of the office.

"Spoilsport" growled Jessica and cleared the newspaper from her table away. For a short moment she thought what she would do first now, doing some phone calls to spread the rumor about Kitty´s dismissal or calling the supreme command to register an undercover operation. Maybe she would skip the second thing. That would be a very easy way to get rid of Kitty. Jessica liked the idea.

But if Kitty got wind of that, and she would guarantee get wind of that, Jessica would under guarantee feel Kitty´s wrath. And, as already mentioned, she didn´t want to feel that. She rather liked to use this wrath against her enemies, like Scratch. Jessica was kind of looking forward seeing Scratch go through hell, soon.

Even if she didn´t want to swap with him right now because he was just telling his team what happened in New York. And he didn´t spare them the details. He rolled out everything, what made especially Parva´s face blush as he came to the part with Nicole. Seneca on the other hand listened to the whole talk silently, in his usual calm manner.

But as Scratch sat exhausted down on the bed of the little motel room the three shared as a temporary commando center -temporary because they used standard protocol when it comes to commando centers again- the quiet lion stood up and said "Tja… musste ja so kommen. Ich war wohl zu blind es sofort zu erkennen. Ich bin raus."

"What?" Parva asked confused as he heard him falling into his mother tongue again.  
"What I want to say is, I´m out." Growled the lion.  
"What?!" repeated the girl but now more shocked than confused. "You want to leave?!"

"Yes." Confirmed Seneca and used his deep voice to emphasize that.  
"Why?!"  
"Can´t you see it girl?!" he suddenly yelled. "He just traded his whole empire for the life of a woman he know from his past. When it comes to a decision between us or her she will always win. And I think he would throw us to the wolves if he has to. Or am I mistaken Dudley Puppy?"

Scratch just looked to the ground in a way Parva had never seen it, guilty.  
"I… I´m sorry." he sighed in a desperate way.  
"Oh great your sorry. Idiot" shouted Seneca and kicked at full power against one of the bedposts.  
"Okay, Seneca, stay cool." Parva tried to intervene. "I mean he loves her, what would have you done if it was for example a family member of you?"

"That´s exactly the problem! Their relationship is over! He has to cut the cord! But no, he wants to eat the cake and have it! That´s impossible! Just leave it! You promised me, Scratch!"  
"I can´t." admitted Scratch standing up from the bed. "I would like to but I can´t!"  
"You don´t want!" meant Seneca with hushed voice and stepped closer to his boss. "You just don´t want. You´ve done worse. I was there back then in Paraguay. I´ve seen the towns burn. You killed because of less. And now you want to tell me that you can´t sacrifice this one cat for our mission?"

"Yes." Replied the dog slowly but with firm voice, like he wanted to make his words particularly understandable for Seneca.  
"Well then… that means my decision is certain. Our cooperation ends now." Seneca spun on his heels and tramped to the door. Angrily he closed it tightly behind him and left his former team just the echo of the lock which clicked into place.

"Did that just really happen?" asked Parva completely confused.  
"I´m afraid, yes." Scratch flopped down onto the bed and closed his eyes. "I´m sure you also want to leave now."

"Actually… no." meant Parva what was kind of surprising for Scratch. He thought that she would join Seneca again. "I can understand why you did what you did. Even if it´s bad for the mission it makes you more likable... But there´s one thing I still don´t understand."  
"And what?"

"How did Richard managed it to get the information about your true identity?"  
"I have only one explanation for that. The hacker I hired for deleting the stuff from the servers must have made a backup and sold that to Richard… Don´t worry, I already took care of this person. But who knows to how many people this guy has already sold the backup." Scratch sat up in the bed and stroked over his bald head. "Oh… and I found a place for the little boy to live."

"Well then… what´s next?" Parva asked after a longer break which was filled with silence.  
"We continue with the plan… but we will probably need another team member… But I think we´ll find someone. This city is full of professional criminals."

"Does that mean I have to continue dating this Rick?" Parva didn´t ask that in the way of a teenager that had to do a unwanted chore, she sounded more like she wanted to hear a 'yes' from him.  
"Of course." Said Scratch who could see the smile she wanted to suppress. "But don´t fall in love with him… you just saw how this can end."


	13. A nose full

Ryan Johnson was a man you could describe outwardly with four words. As broad as high. Even if he was a rhino he took exceptionally much space of a room. This came mostly from dolce vita which he enjoyed as the sole heir of the tremendous fortune of his father Simon Johnson who built the second biggest media business overnight. Of course not really overnight, his father put much time and work into the Johnson media group to made it what it was now.

Ryan didn´t care about that so much. For him the company was always the cow he could milk if he needed a new car or a new apartment. He never really tried to emulate his father. He didn´t even want to manage the company he inherited.

That was too complicated and also too difficult for him. So he had someone for that and used the free time to pursue his hobbies. His two big hobbies. Cocaine and, how he called it, getting escorted by escort ladies. Two expensive hobbies but with the company paying the bills he had enough money to pursue them both for many years.

Also for this evening he planned something nice with a lady called 'Casandra' and he was looking forward to that. If this stupid meeting with White and Willson wouldn´t be. He didn´t know about what it was but he knew that it wouldn´t be good. Like every meeting with the others…and with the voice.

Every time they had a meeting this, tinny dark voice echoed through the speaker. Ryan always got the creeps when he heard it. The voice was scary, especially because it always knew where they were and what they did. Sometimes Ryan had the feeling that the voice also knew what he thought.

And if you keep that in mind, it makes the voice just even creepier. More and more often Ryan weight up the pros and cons of ending the collaboration with the voice. But in the end two big contras predominated.

One was that the voice more or less took care of his company, what was actually his suggestion after it gave him more and more advice what he should do, and the other one was that the voice had some incriminating evidences about an incident five years ago which involved him and a prostituted that is now buried in the concrete of the new KPET building.

If he ends the collaboration he would find himself behind prison bars. Nothing you would really want.  
With his enormous strength pushed Ryan the doors of the mayor´s office open, again under the protest of the mayor´s secretary Mandy, and stormed into the room.

"Here I am!" he shouted announcing his arrival.  
It seemed that he was a bit too late because the mayor and White were already sitting around the big desk. Both of them stared at the phone on this desk and didn´t let the shouting rhino interrupt them.

"Sit down and shut up!" ordered White with his eyes darted on the phone. Usually Ryan hadn´t ignored such a provocation by this jitterbug but he had a date with Casandra and she was paid no matter if he would come or not. So he did what White told him.

He took a chair, sat down beside the mayor and joined staring at the phone.  
It was an elder phone. Big and bulky with a cable from the phone to the speaker but without cables to any plugs. It was odd, Ryan always wondered how that thing worked when he stared at it, what could be a long time sometimes.

The voice always wanted them to gather earlier than it actually called. But luckily this time they didn´t have to wait too long until the phone rang. Immediately the mayor pushed the button for the speaker phone and let the dark tinny voice echo out of the speaker.

"Gentleman, the situation is serious." It began without foreplay. "Robson is dead and I think we all know who´s to blame for that."  
Ryan furrowed his brow. Robson was dead? That was new for him. Why hasn´t someone told him that?

"Scratch sent us a clear message. He wants to find and destroy us. And he will find and destroy us. We have to act quickly now before he does that. Good for you all is that I already have a plan to thwart his plans." The voice made a short break to clear its throat. "So keep calm."

Ryan recognized that White twitched as he heard his words. The little monkey probably had screamed 'Keep calm?!' shocked if he didn´t fear the voice in the same way the others did.  
"And because Mr. White is already twitching again, I have seconded a few men to protect you. You won´t see them, but they´ll see you." Instead of feeling reassured the three looked confused around. From where the voice knew how White reacted? Did it have a camera in here or did it just knew them well enough to predict the reaction.

"Well, now that this is sorted out, have you taken care of the task I allocated you to do?"  
"Yes!" Mayor Willson replied quick like a shot. "We bugged Scratch´s hotel room…"  
"I don´t talk about that… I already know that and received a transmission." meant the voice toneless.  
"Oh yes… the thing with Peterson… Yeah, White had already hired the Killer." Stammered Willson frightened.

"Yes!" confirmed White. "The same one who helped us preparing the massacre back then. He maybe is still a newbie in that business but he will manage that."  
"Good… good…" praised the voice. "I want to see this man six feet under as soon as possible. He is the only one that is REALLY able to stop us."

"Uhm… Sir…" White raised his hand shivering.  
"Yes?"  
"Why is this man so important?"  
A soft laughter came from the speaker and sent an unpleasant chill down the spines of all three. "This man is an incorrigible idealist and he has a realistic chance to become governor, even though his politic isn´t quite zeitgeistly. If I assess him right he will probably enact anti-corruption laws, or similar things. Things that would make my life much more uncomfortable. Does this answer your question?"

"Y..yes." replied White fast.  
"Well then, we´ll talk again when Peterson bit the dust. Good day." The voice felt silent but the three weren´t gasping in relieve until the dialing tone was hearable.

"Oh good I hate that." Coughed White obviously exhausted by this conversation.  
"We all do my friend." The mayor patted the monkey´s shoulder sympathetically.  
Instead of giving further comments on the situation Ryan looked at his watch. One hour left until Casandra would visit him!

He had to go now. "Well, I think everything is clear now. I´ll go."  
A bit nonplussed the others looked at him. "Yeah, I have something to do…" he added because Willson and White just didn´t stop staring.

"Okaaay…" replied the mayor confused. He had thought that Ryan would stay to discuss the situation and plan the next steps. "Then go… I´ll tell you what we decided tomorrow."  
Ryan nodded a last time and then bowed out. At a smart pace he left the building and get into one of the cabs that waited in front of the city hall for passengers.

I took him 30 minutes to get home, usually he needed 45 but today there was almost no traffic on the streets. It was pretty convenient for him to arrive earlier to the old mansion of his father, he used for visits from people like Casandra. It was a nice house but he preferred living in an apartment building where he could oversee the city lights at night.

All the time he drove he overlooked the white van that was following him. That was hard to believe if you note the incompetent way the van´s driver was steering it. But what should the bald head dog do? Seneca has left the team and he was the best driver he could imagine. Compared with him every other driver was a dilettante.

A bit bumpy Scratch brought the van to standstill. He turned off the engine and walked deeper into the vehicle where the rest of his team waited, what was not just consisting of him and Parva anymore. Through a lucky coincidence he was able to get Kitty on board. Even if that was more an emergency solution.

Because Seneca left the team he had to redispose and he had to figure out a completely new plan. But that wasn´t too hard to do. Scratch´s original plan was using one of Johnson vices against him, but this guy had so many vices, it was easy to find figure out something else. And as he heard of the thing with Casandra he saw his new chance.

Taking Kitty into his team was something he didn´t like to do. He actually wanted to keep her out of this but as already mentioned it was just an emergency solution for this one job. After that he would continue keeping her out of that.

But before he could start with anything, he had to sort some things out.  
"So, how are you girls?" asked Scratch hypocritically as he stepped into the back of the white van. He could also have spared his breath for that. It was obvious how the mood was like. Kitty and Parva stared angry and each other like two furious boxer before the ring of the bell.

"Fantastic!" hissed Parva not willing to avert her angry gaze from Kitty. "I always wanted to work with the woman who killed Nefarius."  
"I haven´t killed him!" screamed Kitty indignantly and stood up.  
Parva also stood up and looked with her head tilt back directly into the face of Kitty, who was taller by two heads. "YOU CALLED THE MAN WHO KILLED HIM! IT´S ALSO YOUR FAULT!"

"IT´S NOT MY FAULT THAT THIS PSYCHOPATH IN A DUDLEY COSTUME KILLED HIM!"  
"Please Parva, Kitty, settle down…" meant Scratch as calm as he could.  
"SETTLE DOWN?!" Parva stared at him like he just wanted her to cut off her arm. "YOU KNOW WHAT SHE DID!"

"Are you deaf or something?" Kitty grabbed the girl by her collar. "I DID NOTHING! SHUT UP!" she shouted shaking Parva.  
"HEY!" with a tight grip Scratch grabbed Kitty´s hand. "Leave her."  
"Hey, she attacked me!" Kitty tried to defend herself.

"Maybe, but just verbally." Said Scratch. "So stop attacking her physically."  
Kitty sighed irritated and let Parva go.  
"Okay, good." He praised. "So Parva, Kitty let you go, what do we say?"  
Parva darted a death glare on Kitty and gave her the finger.

"Great…" sighed Scratch. "Parva go and sit on the passenger seat. Private talk here."  
Angry but silent the girl stomped the few steps to the passenger seat and pulled out her mp3-player.  
"Excuse her…" meant Scratch grinning guiltily. "It was a bit turbulent the last days."  
"Whatever." Shrugged Kitty. "I just want to do this job and then I´m gone."

"Yeah… I thought something like that." Scratch reached into the inner pocket of his coat and pulled a device out of it that looked very similar to a walkie-talkie. "Can I ask you a question Kitty?" he asked while he turned a little rotary switch and put it back into his pocket. "Why are you really here?"  
"You brought me in." she replied fast.

"I know but why have you decided to join?"  
"To annoy Jessica." Kitty lied confidently. She had concocted that lie after a while of thinking. The problem was that Scratch knew her and also knew that she would never work with him. So her idea was when there was someone she hated as much as him, the mutt would believe that she would make the figurative trade with the devil.

"Ahh… Jessica, right… that made you angry, huh?" Scratch had a disgusting grin on his lips, it looked like he tried to consume Kitty´s negative emotions.  
"Yes… that was like a slap in the face." Said Kitty giving the baby the baby-soother.  
"So you want to cause a bit mayhem in the city just to make her angry?"

"Yes." She repeated.  
"Nice plan…" laughed Scratch. "And of course advantageous for me but… it has two little flaws."  
"What kind of flaws. We go in there… do whatever we will do and cause mayhem. Also Jessica will be pretty angry when she sees you with me."

"I don´t mean that plan… I mean the plan that´s about arresting me red-handed."  
"I haven´t heard of such a plan." Kitty tried to say that as innocent as possible in the hope that he would maybe buy it.

"Sure? Then you must be the one who is deaf... Or you must think that I´m totally dim."  
"I really don´t know what you´re talking about."  
"Kitty, please." Smiled Scratch and looked her deep into the eyes. He knew it. He wasn´t just trying to test her, he knew it. She could tell by the look in his face. This triumphing grin that immediately tells you 'Don´t even try'.

"Dammit…" she cursed giving in. "How did you find out?"  
"As I said two little flaws. The first one is that this is just not you. Even if you want to come down like a ton of bricks on Jessica you would never collaborate with me. No matter what she did to you… what I did is worse…" Scratch seemed to lose himself for a second in his own thoughts. But he shook his head and got back on track. "But what was more obvious, was what Jessica did."

"Jessica? What do you mean?"  
"Well, your coworker was a bit too eager with what she did. Don´t get me wrong, her feint was really good but as she spread the rumor that half a dozen of our old enemies return to the city I knew that something was wrong."

"And why that?" wondered Kitty. It was actually part of the plan that Jessica fakes the return of enemies like Cape Cod or Jack Rabbit to put more pressure on Scratch. So why was an elementary part of the plan a flaw?  
"Easy… they are all dead."

"Dead?!" gasped Kitty shocked. "How that? What happened?"  
Scratch didn´t give her a verbal answer, he just looked at her in a way that answered her question.  
"No, that can´t be! You are sick!"

"Hey, you maybe complain but you had a pretty peaceful job over the last years. Nobody tried to kill you. Okay, I mean there are the Petropolis villains but… please. You can´t really call them villains." Giggled Scratch disparagingly.

"You don´t really tell me that you kill all of my… all of our old enemies?!" Kitty still couldn´t grasp it.  
"Not all of them, Jack is still alive... Even if I wouldn´t call it living what he´s doing."  
"What have you done to him?"

"You wouldn´t want to know the detail but… let´s say I broke him... mentally and physically."  
Kitty shuddered as her mind spitted out the most terrible pictures. Jack and the others were her enemies but they definitely haven´t deserved the fate that Scratch brought to them.

"But to come back to the main subject, that´s how I found it out."  
"So and what´s next now? You shoot me?" asked Kitty.  
Scratch reaction to that was odd, instead of retorting Kitty´s jibe with one of his remarks which he always let out with a nasty grin on his lips all his whole face darkened. "Stop that…" he hissed. "Just stop it!"

"What… what´s wrong?" replied Kitty perplex.  
"Nothing…" he meant taking a deep breath. "And no, I won´t shoot you but I also won´t let you arrest me."  
"So what will you do then? Keep me as a hostage?"

"No, I make you an offer. You want to arrest me? Okay, but not today… My offer is that if you help me getting the head, the mastermind behind all of this, I surrender."  
It felt for a second like somebody had stabbed a needle in Kitty´s brain. She was so confused that she had to ask again if she wasn´t mistaken something. "To get that right, you will surrender."

"Yes."  
"No more killing, no more torturing."  
"You got it, Kitty."  
She couldn´t believe it. It would mean the end of her suffering. She could finally close this chapter of her life and walk on freely. Free from all this fear, this pain, this suffering.  
And especially free from Scratch. What would he get? 60 or 70 years? She would never ever see him again. Finally.

But that sounded too good to be true, like every good thing that ever happened to her. Where was the catch on this whole thing? The unsuspicious little detail that would cut her open and leave her bleeding lying around somewhere.

She realized it fast. The catch was fixed tightly to her body, a little microphone that recorded every single word.  
"I think I have to refuse… Even if I like to accept. But I…"  
"You have morally reasons." Completed Scratch.

"No… actually no… that should make me think. It´s because of the microphone I´m wearing. Jessica and Keswick are sitting in the T.U.F.F. HQ right now and listen to every word we say."  
"And again, you think that I´m really stupid."  
"What do you mean?" replied Kitty confused.

Scratch just pointed at the little device in his coat pocket. "Jamming transmitter. Did you really think I wasn´t prepared for that?"  
"Then we can still…"  
"All you got to do his shaking my hand and we have a deal."  
Kitty didn´t shake his hand she hugged Scratch in an outburst of happiness but as she realized who she was hugging, she fast broke loose.

A bit surprised Scratch gazed at her and said. "Okay… I think that has the same worth as shaking hands." He cleared his throat and opened the locker that belonged to the load area of the van. "The plan is quiet easy. Johnson is waiting for a 1000 Dollar escort Lady called Casandra. He don´t know how she looks like, just that she´s a cat. So you…" he pulled a paper bag out of the locker. "…will be Casandra tonight."

"What?!" shouted Kitty outraged. "You want me to sleep with this… this…"  
"The word you´re looking for is unsympathetic person" completed Scratch for her. "Or creep. But no, I would never want you or anybody to do that, what I want is that you plant something on him." He pushed the paper bag towards her and reached again in one of his coat pockets.

He pulled a little transparent plastic sachet out in which a white powder was. "This man has a lot of vices but two big once. Hookers and coke. And that´s how we get him. In this little bag here is something I call 'the platinum shot'. Yeah, I know… but was the only name I could think of. Anyway, if that won´t kill him… You can call me the worst ex-drug-lord ever." He ended his explanations with handing Kitty the bag.

"Well, that doesn´t seem so complicated."  
"It shouldn´t be complicated… oh and put of this micro… It will be too noticeable under the dress you´ll wear."  
"And what will Jessica and Keswick hear then?" Kitty noticed what she considered as the flaw in Scratch´s plan. "They get suspicious if they hear nothing for too long."

"I took care of that. I have recorded a little CD on which I´m talking or screaming orders. I put it into the stereo and place the micro beside the speaker… that should work." Scratch turned around and sat down on the passenger seat to give Kitty some privacy to change clothes.

Although he tried to get a furtive look through the rear-view at his old flame. Unfortunately, for him, she managed it to stand in some kind of blind spot.  
"Hopefully that´s the only disappointment today." He whispered to himself and prepared everything to keep Jessica and Keswick in check. Scratch could imagine how these two pests sit in front of a speaker and write down every pointless word that he had recorded.

Maybe he could get access to the T.U.F.F. cameras later and watch the whole scene then. That would be as good as a comedy movie. Under the premise that Parva could get login data for the T.U.F.F. main-server out of Rick.

Scratch turned pensively to Parva who drummed with the plugs in her ears the melody of the song she was listening to. He was in a way proud of her. That was her first mission, also a honeypot mission, and she handled it professionally. The information she delivered were really priceless.

Shift schedules, entrance codes also a T.U.F.F. badge she could acquire. Far more than Scratch had ever thought she would get and perfectly usable for his operation.  
Softly he pulled one of the plugs out of Parva´s ears to gain her attention.

"Hm?" she asked surprised.  
"I wanted to ask you if there´s anything new from the Honeypot." He said. "The last time I asked you everything was fine and the information you gather confirms that of course but I´d like to hear it directly from you. So anything new?"

"Nope, nothing... no… nope…" Parva started speaking faster suddenly. "There is really… nothing… nada."  
"Okay… if you say so, I believe you." Of course he didn´t, the repetition of negation with this speed was the best sign that something was wrong. But he trusted her.

Even if it was just the trust that she would get rid of the problem she had by herself. In the end, Parva was a big girl, no need to worry about her. Again this felling of pride rose in him. The few months they were a team now she was really coming along.

"Hey, I just want to say that you´re doing great with the Honeypot." Scratch laid his hand on smiling her shoulder. "And I don´t know if that means something to you, but I´m proud of you."  
"Uhm… thank you?" Parva seemed confused and even a little bit afraid of Scratch right now. He wasn´t really the guy who praised much.

"No need, you earned it."  
"Oh…okay…cool." She said putting the plug back into her ear.  
"Dudley!" called Kitty from the back of the van. "I´m done!"

Scratch moved to the load area where he cast a glance on something that took his breath. As he had chosen the dress he had thought that it would look good on Kitty but not that it would look so amazing. The long black strapless dress fit tightly on her thin trained body and left not too much and not to less space for imagination.

"Close your mouth." Kitty ordered as she saw Scratch eying her in awe.  
"I try… but my mind won´t let me…" Scratch let his eyes wander smiling up to the ceiling where they stayed a few seconds while in his mind a typical 30 minutes man fantasy went on.

"Eww…" she let out disgusted.  
"Hey, some people maybe think I´m a criminal monster, and that´s maybe true from their narrow look-out, but I´m also a guy."  
"Again, eww…" repeated Kitty

"Yeah yeah…" grinned Scratch. "Anyway, you really look beautiful in this dress, Kitty."  
"You´re right." She admitted looking down at herself. "Dudley, when did you become so good in choosing clothes?"

"Well, there is no reason why I shouldn´t be good in that because 'de gustibus non est disputandum'. So there is nothing else I could choose than good looking things." Scratch laughed while Kitty just raised her eyebrow not understanding what he meant. "But joking apart, after Paraguay I had some time… And besides some jobs I did in this time, quite amusing jobs, I realized that I have a knack for cloth. I even… no…" He waved suddenly a bit embarrassed aside what he wanted to say.

"What?"  
"Okay, I tailored a bit… it looked quite good."  
"You?!" Kitty was amazed by what she heard, although she couldn´t imagine Scratch sitting quietly on a chair for hours sewing up a dress or a suit, it was the only thing she heard for months that didn´t let him look like a monster.

"Yeah… I was alone and bored." Meant Scratch scratching the back of his head.  
Kitty just shook her head amused. "Dudley… there´s an invention for bored people, it´s called the internet."

"Whatever" shrugged he. "I hope you´re ready now. Because we going to start. We communicate over this." Scratch handed Kitty a little unsuspicious earplug. "We hear everything you do and you can hear us. Don´t worry, there is a plan B if everything goes wrong."

He opened the back doors of the van and let Kitty out. Before he slammed the doors shut again Kitty could swear that she heard him whispering "And please be careful."  
It were just a few steps from her position to the mansion. A small path led her through a perfectly tended lawn past huge spherical bushes to little stone square what looked similar to a chessboard.

Big ring-shaped discolorations on a few parts of the field strengthened the assumption that this part of the garden was once really used to play supersize chess. Only one thing was strange, where were the chessmen?

The path led her further to the big main entrance double door made from oak wood. The door looked old and expensive like the rest of the mansion. After ringing the doorbell Kitty spend the waiting time with the question if the stone the house was made of was marble or just a normal white stone. What would make a big difference when it comes to estimating the costs of the villa.

"Miss Casandra?" asked the huge rhino that opened the door.  
"Yes." Said Kitty who got ripped out of her architectural thoughts.  
"Please." The rhino stepped aside and opened the way for her to enter the house. As impressive as the house was outside it was inside. She could see at the first glance that already the furnishing of the foyer, just a few tables and vases, was worth more than she earned in a year.

"Well, Miss Casandra, shall we begin?" The rhino already began to unbutton his shirt very fast. Kitty knew that she had to do something or she really had to do unspeakable things with the rhino. Luckily, in the right time, she received a piece of advice from Scratch over the plug in her ear. "Stay cool Kitty, the first step is done. You are in Ryan´s house. Just say to him that he booked the full package. And if he didn´t want a little eye-opener."

The gigantic hands of the rhino had already started touching and wanted to pull the dress of her body.  
"Slowly big boy." Whispered Kitty seductively. "You booked the full package haven´t you? Aren´t you interested in… another kind of foreplay." Between her breast Kitty pulled the plastic bag out and waved it in front of him. The initial astonishment on Ryan´s face yield fast to a big grin.

He snatched the sachet out of Kitty´s hand and walked, almost ran, to one of the table that was next to him. A few seconds later he had already formed the white powder to a straight line and played 'my nose is a vacuum cleaner'.

"WHOA!" he screamed as the line was gone. "Good stuff, good good stuff!" with his right fist he beat on the table which broke into pieces. "WHOA!"  
Kitty watched him a few seconds and waited for the moment he would finally fall to the ground with foam at the mouth but it just didn´t happen.

"Shouldn´t he be dead by now?" she whispered holding one finger at the earplug.  
"Actually yes… except… oh damn." Gasped Scratch.  
"What?"

"I think this guy did so much coke that he is kind of hard-wearing when it comes to coke… I should have used a higher concentration… But don´t worry… Plan B… all you got to do is take him upstairs in the bedroom." He meant trying to reassure her.

"Dudley I swear if I have to sleep with this guy I will do unspeakable things to you. Did you hear me?"  
"Loud and clearly…" Kitty heard in the background Parva giggling evilly.  
"Who are you talking to?" Ryan suddenly stood in front of her, she had no idea how managed it to move so fast.

"Nobody… at least that´s what I think… I also got some lines." She lied.  
"Well then." The rhino proceeded again to unbutton him, but this time he did that a bit deeper.  
"Hey whoa." Intervened Kitty before his pants could fall to the ground. "How about continuing that upstairs in the bedroom?"

Ryan must have liked the idea because he grabbed Kitty´s wrist and dragged her upstairs into the bedroom where he immediately threw her onto the big canopy bed. Just a second later he was already on top of her kissing her neck and rubbing his big bulky body on hers. It felt disgusting and she hoped that either Scratch would storm in and help her or a lightning would hit her or him before they take their clothes off.

One of these wishes became true as a loud screaming person entered the room. It was Scratch but not like she knew him. His face was different, he wore a terrible looking rubber mask. The ugly accessory startled Ryan so much that he jumped off Kitty and started screaming. In panic he started throwing everything around him at his masked enemy.

Lamps, chairs but nothing helped. Slowly the masked Scratch came closer to him. In his panic Ryan had thrown almost anything around him at Scratch except one thing. He grabbed a little box on his bedside table and threw it at Scratch. It was a hit but nothing that would stop Scratch from doing whatever he was doing.

Although throwing the box had a general effect. It must have been something like a cocaine hideout of Ryan and after it hit Scratch´s head it opened and spread its content all over the place. In the whole room a very expensive mist was spreading and of course Scratch and Kitty breathed it accidently in.

Ryan now panicked even more there was nothing more he could throw nothing more he could do except one thing. He stepped to the window and opened it. His drugged brain saw just one possible way out of here, jumping. It needed just a last step the mask thing came closer to him to bring him to this ultimate decision.

In the room Scratch pulled the mask of his face and looked down out of the window. "Hmm… I love hallucinations." he growled satisfied and take a longer look at Ryan´s crushed body. The rhino was still twitching a bit but it wouldn´t take more than hour until his body gives up.

You don´t have to be a doctor to understand that you won´t survive a belly flop from five meters without medical attention.  
Smiling Scratch turned towards the bed searching for Kitty but she was gone somehow. "Kitty?"

"WOOOOOAAA!" a scream right behind Scratch let him turn around startled. It was Kitty who looked through the window down at Ryan. "PANCAKE!" she laughed at the rhino.  
"Kitty… Everything alright?"

"Alright?!" trembling with laughter she turned to him. "It´s never been better!"  
Right in this moment Scratch noticed Kitty´s widened pupils which drove out the green in her eyes.  
"Oh damn, Kitty! We…" Scratch wanted to suggest that they should get out of here and get sober somewhere else but the words suddenly wouldn´t leave his mouth.

It was like he wasn´t in control of his tongue anymore. A pleasant feeling began to spread in his mind, overpowering it. In his last clear moment he understood. It began again… after being sober so long… the rush.  
The last moment before he lost the control, he heard himself say. "Wanna dance darling?"

**-"De gustibus non est disputandum" = "In matters of taste, there can be no disputes"-**

**- Well, another guy on Scratch´s list is no more. Two people are left. How will he get rid of them? Let´s see…-**


	14. Damned to fail

At first he saw nothing, even if his eyes were open. Just a grey veil that moved softly in front of his eyes. He felt comforted seeing that and a cozy feeling surrounded him. It felt like he was back in the womb. No problems and no worries bothered him. He felt free. Was that maybe heaven? But that would have meant that he has died and he couldn´t remember that. But it could have happened.

Now that he thought about it he realized that there were a few hours missing in his memory. Right after he brought Ryan to jump out of the window… Nothing. Empty. Blackout. It was really possible that he died in these hours and was now in some kind of afterlife Nirvana thing.

He should maybe check if he´s dead. With his hand her ran over his face and could feel the old scars which were left from the emergency face transplantation in Moscow. They felt pretty real. But why he could see just this veil? He pressed the lids of his eyes down and opened them then again.

The veil was a bit lighter now. Its color had changed from dark grey to a dirty white. Again he closed his eyes and opened them again. Slowly a picture became clearer. A face. A last time he blinked then he could see it clearly. Parva. The young cat´s face was just a few centimeter away from his face and grinned evilly at him. "Good morning sleepyhead."

As he heard her clear high voice Scratch felt suddenly the total opposite of what he felt as he saw the veil. His whole body ached like he just got tortured.  
"Oh my god… that´s definitely not heaven." He moaned. Drowsily he looked down at himself and realized something peculiar. "Uhm… Parva?" he asked confused by his discovery. "Why am I wearing this dress?"

"That´s a good question. But not the only good question you should ask Scratch." Parva pointed, still with that grin on her face, beside him. As he tilted his head slowly to the side he saw, by the shocking sight that offered to him, that Parva was right. Not only that he was chained with handcuffs to a bed, what he haven´t realized yet neither the chaining nor the lying on the bed, and wearing a dress, he also wasn´t alone.

The other victim of the cocaine fog lay right next to him. Kitty wore nothing except her underwear and a big topper that always slipped over her eyes. By the look on her face she was also trying to make sense of that, at least that´s how Scratch interpreted her perplex staring. In the same slow way Scratch moved his head back to Parva.

"Am I on some kind of trip?" he asked slowly.  
"Nope..." meant Parva and took out a wire cutter which she put on the chain of the handcuffs. "But you have been."  
"I have no idea what happened yesterday…" he mumbled while Parva cut through the chain.

"Me neither…" breathed Kitty like someone who just gained consciousness.  
"Luckily, I have." Meant Parva putting away the cutter. "Crazy story…"  
"What are you waiting for? Tell it!"

"How about giving her a bit time to get fully back on track?" Parva looked smiling at Kitty in whose head still everything was turning.  
"No I´m okay" she meant with a face contorted in pain while pressing her hands against the sides of her head.

"Okay… then let´s see… oh yes!" the young girl exclaimed. "I was waiting in the van for you two as both of you suddenly stormed out of the mansion. But instead of going back and get into the van you two ran down the street like you were crazy or something. I started of course immediately the engine and followed you but, even though your lead was short, I somehow lost you. The next hour I spent driving up and down the road trying to find you. And I actually found you then… sitting together with a few homeless guys in some kind of hang out circle. It reminded really a bit of those circles you see in collage movies. Without the homeless it would have been perfect…"

"Get back to the main story, please." Ordered Kitty.  
"Yeah, okay. Well, I get out of the car and stepped closer to you just to hear a dialogue I still can´t make sense of… I remember that Scratch said something like: 'Bloody! The bricks are blood covered, really I saw it. An Indic work had them on his head and carried them. And this worker, and that´s really a thing guys, is a dancer. He dances ballet. Waiting for his breakthrough. But he didn´t know that no normal person is watching ballet anymore, they all go in the arena and watch the gladiators because they hunt the pig.' Strange was that everybody nodded to that… you know, like it would make sense. And then you." Parva turned her head to Kitty and addressed her directly. "You said something like 'You are right, Dud, you are right. And I think it´s totally irresponsible that these gladiator kids are allowed to have such sharp weapons. In my opinion they should put corks at the points of the weapons. But who should drink all the wine.' Then both of you and the homeless guys agreed that they would like some wine."

"Uhm… well… that is kind of…"  
"That wasn´t the whole story yet." Intervened Parva before Scratch could say anything more. "As you realized, after a few more more confusing words, that I was there you ran to the van and drove away. Without me! For me that meant an hour of walking around searching… this time I found you in a karaoke bar where you two sang a duet… To make that short, I neither knew that there was a swing version of 'Chop Suey' nor that it´s possible to sing it as a duet. But to be honest, you two did that very well. So well that the owner of the bar gave you his topper."

Kitty seemed now to realize that she wore a hat. A bit confused she took it off and looked it at with the desperate wish to remember.  
"Yeah, that hat." Laughed Parva. "And still it´s not over. Because right after receiving the hat, you ran away again. And again you two stole the van. But this time it was easier to find you two… I just had to follow the lighted sky for a while…"

"I have a bad premonition…" meant Scratch knowing what Parva would say next.  
"Yes." She meant like she was kind of enjoying that. "You lighted up the vehicle and danced around the flames. But still we´re not at the end. Again you two ran away in the moment you saw me. One last time I followed you and, believe me, if that happened again I would have said 'Fuck it, I go back to the hideout.' Anyway, you two ran to this apartment building and walked very determined to this apartment."

"Where are we anyway?" asked Kitty.  
"You tell me! I just know that you opened the door with a key."  
Kitty now sat straight up in the bed and eyed the room closely. Maybe she just hadn´t realized it because her brain was still messed up from the drugs but now she could see it plainly now.

She was in her own apartment. In her own bed. Together with Scratch. And the last thing made her ask immediately. "What happened then?"  
"Well… you two rushed into the bedroom and Scratch hung his tie at the doorknob… And then I didn´t want to interrupt. I mean I know what that means."

"No no no…" Thunderstruck Kitty jumped out of the bed. "You kidding me, you kidding me!"  
"Kitty, calm down." Scratch also got out of the bed and walked to her.  
"Don´t tell me to calm down! I knew it was a bad idea, I knew it!"  
"Kitty Kitty…"

"No no no" the tall cat started pacing up and down in the room, on the threshold to a panic attack.  
"Well, I think my work is done here." Laughed Parva. "I got to go now, I have an important… appointment."

"What?" Scratch hissed shocked to her. "You want to leave me? Alone? With her in that state?"  
"Oh come on please. You are Scratch! A legend! You did things others not even dreamt of. I think you will handle a hysterical woman."

"DO YOU TWO THINK I CAN`T HERE YOU?!" screamed Kitty and stopped pacing.  
"I´m out." Parva took a last look at the two knowing that she would be far away when this powder keg would explode. Sure, Scratch, the poor bastard, was alone with Katswell now and he had definitely needed her help but Parva was already too late.

And besides that it was kind of fun to behave like Scratch would do it, antisocial and reckless but with a smile on the face. As she closed the door of the apartment Parva could clearly hear Kitty scream "WHAT DO YOU MEAN WITH 'DON´T BE LIKE THAT'?!"

Parva grinned again. And this grinned stayed until she was outside on the sidewalk. She maybe wouldn´t admit it but she was slowly developing some strange kind of sympathy for Katswell. Especially because Scratch was kowtowing to her so much. It seemed that it was also sometimes a bit uncomfortable for him when she gets angry.

And a kowtowing and uncomfortably feeling Scratch was just so grotesque for Parva that she could just either be afraid of it or amused. It was up to Parva, so she chose amused. She would have stayed and watched them arguing but her appointment was too important. Well, it was more a date.

A honeypot date. Rick was waiting for her in a little café nearby and the closer she came to it the more her hands started to tremble. Tremble, in pure fear. She was able to suppress it all the time but now that it became real what she pictured in her mind over the last days it was hard to suppress the fear.

Parva saw Rick already from the distance. He was sitting outside and drank a cup of coffee while reading a book. He was maybe already waiting a while but that was normal, Parva was always a bit late. As she came closer he laid the book aside and waved towards her.

"Hey Sophia! I´m here!" he called and meant her with that. Sophia… that cover name was her own idea. She wanted something unsuspicious, and Sophia was so often used that nobody would remember this name. And then, to make the bluff perfect she had combined this collective term with another one. In the end her name was Sophia Miller.

Just for fun Parva looked up the name on the internet. About 2,000 Sophia Millers lived in and in the area around Petropolis. If she disappears, what was the plan when Scratch was finally done, Rick would be preoccupied for a while searching through the mass of Millers until he finds out that this particular Sophia Miller had never existed.

But plans change. With her heart pounding madly she sat on the little glass table on which Rick sat.  
"Hey cutie, how are you?" whispered Rick head over heels in love.  
"Not well…"  
"What´s wrong?" Rick grabbed her hands which lay trembling on the table gently with his hands. Immediately this warm shower ran down Parva´s spine.

Something she normally enjoyed but this time it just brought her away from the decision she made. She closed her eyes and tried to command her body not to feel what she felt. An impossible undertaking.

"I just… had a rough time that´s all." It came out of her mouth. But that weren´t even partially the words she wanted to say.  
"Tell me…" he said softly and looked at her with his big eyes. These big wonderful eyes. The part of Parva who wanted to fulfill the mission cursed them. But the rest of her lost itself in those eyes.

"My boss is giving me a hard time…" she mumbled staring hypnotized at his eyes.  
"What is he doing exactly?"  
"He… he…" the longer she looked into those eyes the more Parva saw of Rick. You could say that she somehow looked into his soul.

The poets were right, the eyes were really the window to our soul. She could see deep into Rick and what she saw there, more what she felt was amazing. He already sat that to her but Parva never had the certainty that he really meant that, that he really felt like that. He loved her. The pure affection filled her, surrounded her with some kind of warm, cozy feeling.

Like someone had giving her a blanket made out of pure luck. He really loved her and she realized again that she loved him too. The moment Scratch said she should avoid came. And with this moment the shock. She has fallen in love! The blanket made from luck was finally ripped away from her and the rational part of her pushed her to the ground. Now the fears came to the surface.

_You are a thieve and he´s a T.U.F.F. agent, that´ll never work _ _  
Are you really want to build up a relationship on a lie?  
He will dump you if he finds out who you are… maybe also arrest you._

What should she do in that moment? Leave Rick? Of course that would be an option but that would break his heart… and hers too. No, he deserved something better. And that was nothing more than the truth. The plain truth.

Parva began to blink like waking up from a bad dream and shook her head. "No" she said and got her hands loose from his grip. "No, that´s not true… nothing is true."  
"W… What do you mean." Stammered Rick bewildered.

"This all, this is not true… I am not true."  
"Uhm… I see you in front of me." Ricke laughed insecurely. "For me you are very true."  
"Not that… Rick… I am not the person I pretend to be." Parva sighed and let her gaze sank down to the table. "My name is not Sophia Miller."

"What do you talking about? Is that some kind of joke?" Rick grinned confused like someone who doesn´t understand a jokes punchline.  
"No, listen to me." She begged. "My actual name is Marry Stevens… but you maybe know me as…" Parva took a deep breath and then looked directly in Rick´s eyes. "Parva."

Rick´s smile suddenly froze. And Parva could see how all information about her flashed in front of his eyes. "You…" he whispered as his first shock wore off. "You… are Parva…"  
"Yes." She sighed.

"The Parva that is a team member of Scratch…" murmured Rick pensively. "The Parva that helps this psychopath!"  
"Right."  
"I understand." He said and really understood it. Everything. Why Parva wrote him a message on the online dating portal, why she was always around him and asked him so much.

He thought that she liked him maybe even loved him, like he does. But no, she just wanted the information he had. He was the victim of a simple honeypot.  
"So you betrayed me all the time huh?" he asked.  
"Yes, but please understand…"

"What should I understand?" hissed Rick and stood up. "That you just spend time with me because you had to? That you have been just so kind and friendly because this disgusting psychopath dictated it? Oh god… how blind was I?"

"Rick, please…"  
"Shut up, just shut up." He shouted and that so loud that everyone around them turned towards them. "You know that I could arrest you now?" he added threateningly.  
"Rick I… I…" Parva couldn´t form a complete sentence anymore. Everything she feared of happened. And for Rick her stuttering was pure provocation.

"Now I finally understand why you never replied when you said I love you… and I thought that I just overwhelmed you." Rick turned around and started walking away.  
"Rick!" Parva screamed after him as tears run down here cheek.  
A last time Rick stopped but without turning around. "What?" he roared over his shoulder.

"I love you."  
Rick sighed, he turned deigned a disgusted look on her and said. "Go to hell." Then he turned around again and walked away leaving Parva crying back on the table.


	15. Dealing with the devil

A warm meal was exactly what Seneca needed now. He forgot how hungry it made him to search for a new job. Since two days he was now not part of Scratch´s team anymore and since then he did two things. Let of some steam in a gym somewhere in the city, where the body builders looked pretty stupid as the gaunt lion boxed literally the sand out of the sandbag, and searching for a new job.

After all he had a real family to feed and not some kind of weird criminal family Scratch once talked about. Well, less a family to feed than being obliged to pay maintenance. But he did that with joy. That was the only way he could support his children. But for that he needs a job and acquiring a job in this city was almost impossible.

Half of the big criminals were arrested and the other half was too afraid of Scratch to do anything. Seneca was stranded and could just leave the city to get new jobs. He also had already a talk with a guy called The Chameleon. This weird lizard was almost about to hire him but then he mentioned Scratch and the guy backed away.  
He always thought that a man with his qualities would get a lot of jobs he could carry out but as it seems that wasn´t the truth.

Tired sat Seneca down in a small diner which furniture seemed to be from the late fifties. Red leather benches on side, so torn, that the yellow stuffing poured out everywhere. Dirty white tables that were attached to the wall with the obligatory napkin dispenser on it. And on the other side of that a long counter with a lot of stools in front of it.

Behind that a lonely waitress, in an old looking uniform, was chewing bored gum. Seneca headed for the seats and sat down in the corner of the restaurant. And even if he was the only guest the waitress just honored him with her visit after five minutes.

"What can I do for you?" she asked chewing.  
"Breakfast, fast." Mumbled Seneca.  
"Thank you, sweetie." She said sarcastically and disappeared again.

"Oh yeah, that´s why I love these restaurants." He thought cynically. "The nice service."  
The door of the restaurant opened and another guest entered the restaurant. A white dog, and by looking at his suit Seneca could tell fast that he was not the poorest. He could afford a better restaurant, so what wanted someone like this guy in a restaurant like that?

The dog looked around for a while than he spotted something, and whatever he had spotted must have been in Seneca´s corner because he moved to him.  
"Seneca?" asked the dog grinning.  
"Who wants to know that?"

"Wunderbar, endlich treffen wir uns!"  
Seneca listened up now. This guy spoke his mother language, not good and with a terribly strong accent but he spoke it.  
"Was wollen sie?" Seneca replied.

"Oh ich will nur…" the stranger began to flick his fingers "uhm… how do you say… ein Geschäft machen. Ich hörte sie suchen Arbeit."  
Seneca offered him the seat on the other side of the table with the words. "Da haben sie ganz richtig gehört."

"Wunderbar…" the dog said placing himself on the red leather. "… also, ich… sorry but could we continue that in English? My German is a bit rusted."  
"Sure." He shrugged. "Why have you started speaking in German anyway?"

"Just to break the ice. People like it to talk in their mother language." Explained the dog.  
"But for breaking the ice that was nevertheless a bit rush."  
"You could be right about that." chuckled the guy "Anyway, you are searching for work… because I have a job that could need someone who is very discrete."

"How can I help you?"  
"Here." The dog handed him a little brown file and as Seneca opened it a photo of a well-known face smiled towards him. Parva´s face.  
"We want you to kidnap her." Continued the dog. "100,000. 50,000 now and the rest after the job."  
That could just be some kind of bad joke. Did this guy don´t know who was sitting in front of him? Scratch´s team was known, at least among criminals with money, this guy must know that he wanted him to kidnap another team member.

"You kidding."  
"Nope." The dog replied baldly. "We want you to kidnap her. You know when and where she is. You are the best person for that."  
"And for what do you need her?" asked Seneca.

"My boss needs an excellent jugger for a job." Explained the guy. "And he knows that she won´t join him. So he wants you to kidnap her."  
It sounded strange for Seneca what the dog told him. A criminal that kidnaps other criminals to make them work for him? Really strange, but not impossible. Seneca worked for Scratch and saw and did crazier things than that. However, this wasn´t something he would do.

"I have to refuse." Seneca pushed the file back to the dog who picked it up and held it in front of his nose again.  
"And what if I double the money?"  
"Still that is no…"

"Okay. 500,000. Dollar." He interrupted before Seneca could refuse.  
"I…"  
"You are a really tough negotiator, Mr. Seneca." Laughed the dog. "My last offer. One million. One half now, the other later. What do you say?"

The usually silent Seneca was now even more silent even if he wanted to say something. One million. That was a sum. He would murder for so much… to be honest, he murdered already because of less. He could use the money quiet well. That was enough to pay the maintenance for… for forever. But Parva… should he really?

Slowly his hand glided to the file and pulled it out of the dog´s hand. "Wonderful, Mr. Seneca, wonderful." meant the dog grinning "This is the beginning of a wonderful partnership." The guy ran with his hand through his full hair and stood up. "We want you to kidnap her as fast as possible. It shouldn´t be a problem."

Seneca just nodded and then watched the dog leaving with this smile on his face. He took a look at the file in his hand. He knew he should do it but… would that work?  
"I´ll do what I have to do... never the less it feels wrong." He said to himself.  
"What did you say?" The waitress stood beside him with his food and eyed him skeptically.

"Nothing." Replied Seneca and snatched the plate out of her hand.  
"Whatever…" shrugged the waitress and cleared off.  
Hungry he started to attack his plate with the fork. Eggs and bacon. Not his favorite breakfast, he liked to eat light in the morning, but better than nothing.

He could remember that Scratch loved that breakfast. And like it was a great coincidence also Scratch sat in front of a helping of eggs and bacon. Not alone of course, Kitty was still with him. He was able to calm her down. But not by reason with her, just by taking her with him to the hideout.

Scratch saw that this was the only way because he realized that she really felt uncomfortable in her apartment right now. So she sat on now on the other side of the table and just stared at her plate. She had calmed down a bit, as already mentioned, but was still somehow agitated.

"I know that the motel room service is usually not known for its good food but I can assure you that they make pretty good eggs." Scratch explained pointing with the fork on the plate.  
"I am not hungry." She said slowly.

"Oh… well… can I have yours then?"  
Absent-mindedly she pushed her plate over the table to Scratch who ate it happily and then munched. "By the way, you´re still dating my brother?"

"From where do you know that?" Kitty asked confused.  
"He called me lately… and ask if it´s okay for me." Scratch started giggling. "Other´s wouldn´t even ask… well, that´s Stan. He also asked me for ideas for your date tonight. I hope you´re not too angry that I suggested him to just walk with you on the harbor?"

Kitty didn´t reply. That was really not his business even if it´s about his brother. Although it was quiet sweet of Dudley that he remembered that she loved walking over the footbridges of the harbor. At the evening it was always so still there, very relaxing.

After a while which was dominated by silence she buried her face in her hands and sighed. "Dudley… what happened?"  
"Well, we were drugged…" he meant gulping. "I don´t think we can blame someone for that. And I don´t think Stan will blame you for that."

"I don´t mean that. I mean the fact that I helped you to kill someone." Kitty stared on her hands which felt dirty. Her whole body felt like that. But not even the shower she already had helped to get rid of this feeling.

"You think too much." Scratch laid down his fork and stood up. "That was always your problem. You thought too much about the wrong things."  
"So?" Kitty meant giving him an evil glare. "I think too much? I just helped to kill someone Dudley! And no matter how hard I try not to think about it, it just doesn´t work. I´m not you! I can´t kill people and then walk off to have breakfast."

"And what about the criminals you killed during you were on duty?" Scratch took a chair and sat down close to her.  
"Those were accidents. Ricochets, people that suddenly changed their direction and so on." Kitty said that in a way that it seemed like she was trying to defend herself.

"And nevertheless, they are dead now." Replied Scratch and resisted to give her one of his famous smiles. "You can´t do anything for them. Forget them."  
"Yeah, that´s your philosophy." Laughed Kitty bitterly. "Forgetting and going on. Like you did with me, right?"

"Kitty…" sighed Scratch who just couldn´t stand another conversation where she continuously accusing him. "… what do you want from me? Do you want to hear that I´m sorry? I am sorry. Or do you want to hear that I made a lot of mistakes? Here you are, I made a lot of mistakes."

"I want the last seven years back, Dudley." Kitty replied breathing heavily. "I want that those scars on my arm and on my soul disappear and my psychopath free life back." The mention of the scars made Scratch wince and Kitty realized that. She rolled up her sleeves and held her cut covered arms under his nose. "Yeah, look at them! That´s what you done to me? These are the aftermaths of your mistakes! How can a simple word like sorry take them away?"

The single tear that left her eye was immediately wiped away by her. "Do you want to hear a story about those scars? Dudley… Scratch? One night after a big glass of wine I finally had the courage to end with everything. So I made two long cuts and waited... Believe me, if Keswick and the chief hadn´t saved me that night I would be dead by now. And that was all…"

"DON´T YOU DARE TELLING ME THAT WAS MY FAULT!" screamed Scratch suddenly at her.  
"But it is the truth!" Kitty retorted ice cold.  
"No, it´s not my fault. You come to me with some scars and want to tell me that you had a hard time? I´m not called Scratch for nothing! Do you think you were the only one who suffered? I lost almost everything in this massacre. Do you want to hear a story?" Scratch stood up and stared angrily down on Kitty. "After the massacre I couldn´t even look at you without seeing hurt with that wound without seeing the dead people. And always, when I was close to you I heard these words that you said almost bleed to death in some kind of delirium. 'Concentrate, Dudley. I know you´ll do it, I believe in you, I love you.' This sentence followed me, haunted me, tried to destroy me…" breathing fast, almost hyperventilating, Scratch rubbed with his hands over his face. "Can´t you understand it? I had to go… otherwise I hadn´t stand that. Otherwise I would be the one who had tried to end his life. And do you think after the massacre I had a good time? NO! I followed Young! What means gazing into the abyss for so long that the abyss gazed into me and wondered why there is an abyss gazing at it! I seen terrible things and I did more terrible things and for what in the end? For receiving hate by everyone! I can´t stand it anymore!"

"I don´t remember that I said that…" stammered Kitty shocked after a long pause.  
"You were in a delirium…" Scratch flopped exhausted down on the chair. "… no way that you could remember, Kitty."

"Dudley… I…" She tried to find some words to reply something, but her vocabulary was somehow limited by the feeling that spread in her chest. Kitty really felt sorry for Scratch, what was something she never thought it would happen. After he once told her that he had a hard time back in the interrogation room, she was just too angry on him to feel sorry for him.

Maybe she also just felt too sorry for herself. Or maybe it was the massage that he was Dudley that just shocked her. But now her mind was clearer and she could see, even if it sounds stupid, that there was somehow an equality of the suffrage they both have been through. And that made space for sympathy for the old friend.

"No it´s okay… You know what? I just wish that I can one day look in your eyes without the seeing the spark of hate in them. Damn, I wish that we can maybe one day say to each other that we have trust in each other again. I know that I destroyed too much that we can return to be in a relationship again but maybe we can be friends one day…"

Kitty finally found some words and they should make Scratch jaw drop to the ground. "Maybe one day." And without saying another word she stood up and left the motel room.  
As she walked down the dirty rusted stairs to her car she dialed a number on her cellphone.

**-Well, maybe I translate these German parts one day... but this day isn´t today ;D-**


	16. I lied

If Jessica should name one thing she hated about her new job as a chief it would be the paperwork. Not the phone conferences with the supreme command, not the agents that permanently asked her for something, not even the training of new agents. Just the paperwork.

This moronic, monotonous work that piled up every evening. For hours she had to sign papers, read through reports of agents and wrote her own reports about the report. That mostly leaded to the fact that she was the last one who left the office.

After doing this a few days the suspicion grew in her that somewhere in this immense amount of papers some kind of hostile intelligence was hidden. Something that doubled itself when she was tired or hid parts of itself, that she needed, just to keep her in the office as long as possible.

Often she heard herself asking how Kitty was able to stand that every day. Maybe she had some kind of trick to make this a bit more bearable. Like singing a song or something.  
Jessica looked furtively around. Nobody was here, so nobody would care if she would belt out one or two of her favorite songs.

"Mama, take this badge off o' me"she started, more humming then singing. "I can't use it anymore…" quickly she averted her gaze from the papers and looked around. She had actually thought that right in this moment someone would enter the office and catch her singing. Of course, now she had luck. But speaking about catching, if it comes to catch Scratch all her luck left her.

The best example for that is the whole idea with Kitty in his gang. That operation was a failure. Johnson was dead and they had no evidences that he did that. The only thing they had were some weird scraps of something that you couldn´t even call a conversation. Also they haven´t seen Kitty or heard of her since then.

And even if she knew that Scratch wouldn´t do any harm to her due to their history, there was still a rest of uncertainty in her if something happened to Kitty.  
A loud self-talk from the other side of the office door let Jessica ignore the paperwork. Keswick was talking there.

"He is talking to himself… okay, now he´s finally gone crazy." Mumbled Jessica amused and focused back on the papers, even if she knew that Keswick would burst in the room next and wanted to talk to her. And exactly like she prophesized it, it happened. Keswick walked into the room and sat down on the chair on which he always sat. He ignored his boss completely, totally concentrated he talked to someone on his cellphone.

"And you really a..a..accepted this offer?!" Keswick breathed shocked. "Why that? I mean where is the s..s..security… You trust him?! Kitty, are you d..d..drunk? …You understand his situation now?! Don´t tell me that you f..f..forgive him for everything he has done… Thank god that m..m..means you´re not totally insane… Wait, wait, you serious? He had a h..h..hard time too? You got to be kidding me! You better come back to the HQ and then we t..t..talk that through… What do you mean, you have a date soon? You´re s..s..still on duty!..." Keswick took the phone away from his ear and starred on it in disbelieve. "She hung up!"

"Let her…" sighed Jessica. "She won´t help us in her current state anyway. She has to sort some things out, maybe…"  
"What has this psychopath done to her?" Keswick took his glasses of and ran with his hand exhaustedly over his face. "He must have b..b..brainwashed her or something."

"Or just persuaded her of his point." Replied Jessica.  
Keswick tilted his head confused. "How can you be so calm about that?"  
"Because I have work to do."  
"Work? Well then…" Keswick stood up and tossed all the papers from Jessica´s desk. "Now you´re f..f..free."

"Are you totally insane?!" shouted Jessica angrily  
"There are m..m..more important things than paperwork right now!"  
"And what do you want from me now?"  
"You wanted to c..c..catch Scratch!" meant the scientist. "You wanted to get a promotion! D..D..Do something, make a plan!"

"You´re the genius here, why don´t you make one?!"  
"Because you´re the chief, you make the plans!"  
"Okay okay." Jessica leaned back in her chair and stared thinking at the ceiling. Keswick was right, she wanted to catch the psychopath and she was the chief. But frankly, the longer she had worked as a chief the less she wanted this job.

It was like being in the ivory tower and the people who really thought crime were outside of it. The only thing she did was giving advice, and signing papers. That was never what she wanted. She had believed that this job would mean that she could pick out the very interesting missions and leave the other stuff to her subordinates. Well, of course she could do that but there is just no time for a field mission because of the paperwork. All in all it was boring.

"Keswick… what do you think… if Kitty is what you called, brainwashed… would she return to Scratch?" she asked with an idea growing in her mind.  
"Probably." Speculated Keswick. "I mean I´m not a t..t..therapist but the chances are high. Why?"  
"Because, it´s easier to find Kitty than Scratch. And if Kitty knows where the bastard is and returns to him…"

"We´ll c..c..catch him." Completed Keswick grinning.  
"Right" confirmed Jessica.  
"Then what are we w..w..waiting for? Let´s go."  
Keswick jumped out of the office and ran towards the staircase. Jessica looked for a brief moment after him, then she opened the drawer, get her gun out and followed him.

Maybe this time they would get Scratch. At least if Kitty would return to him. What both of them couldn´t know was that Kitty had no idea where Scratch was. No one knew that, except himself of course. After the things that happened this morning the partnership between her and him ended.

She helped him with this one job, now he didn´t need her help anymore. Even if they still had a deal. And Scratch knew that Kitty would help him to get the mastermind behind all of that. There was no certain reason why he thought so, he just had a feeling.

But right now he rather concentrated on the job than on any feelings he had. And this job was a one man job anyway, even if he had liked to have Parva´s support with that. But she was somehow like fallen off the face off the earth. Maybe she was concerned with the honeypot right now.

Whatever it was, Scratch had no time to think about it. He was too preoccupied with watching his third victim. Leroy White. A monkey in a suit, that permanently had a look on his face that reminded of someone who is followed. The man seemed paranoid… not a really easy aim. Scratch thought of every trick by the book to let the murder on him look like an accident.

But this guy had far to less vices to do what he did with Johnson and he also couldn´t use the environment against him like he did it with Robson. So Scratch had to do this in a very classic way. He would let it look like a mugging that went wrong. Not so smooth like the other murders but effective as long as Scratch wouldn´t mess it up. And that was completely impossible.

The monkey was maybe paranoid and always watching his back but he was had one weak point, and that was his underground parking lot. An old garage without cameras, ergo a perfect place to hijack someone.

Scratch just had to wait for his victim, like a spider that waited for the fly to hit its net. Even if the spider was maybe a bit more used to the temperatures outside. It was damn cold in this garage and Scratch stood her already for about two hours. And still White hadn´t shown up.

Scratch rubbed his cold hands. "Do they have an air conditioner down here." he said with chattering teeth. "It´s about ten degree colder in here than on the street. Dammit White, where are you?"  
And like he said some magic words to conjure a daemon lights suddenly flashed up and Scratch could jump into a dark corner in the last moment.

A grey limousine approached to him and parked on the empty space right beside Scratch´s hideout. Out of the grey limousine a man in a suit, that had exactly the same color like the car, got out. He fixed the knot of his also grey tie, which was just distinguishable from the suit because of the white shirt he wore, with the always shivering hands and headed for the elevator. That was Scratch´s chance. Soundlessly he glided behind the monkey and laid the blade of his shinning knife against his victim´s throat. "Mr. White, finally we meet."

"Who are you? I have no money… I…"  
Before White could say anything more Scratch pulled him into the dark corner and pressed him against the wall. Of course not without holding the knife on his throat.  
"But Mr. White, I thought you know me."

"Scratch" he gasped as he could finally see the face off his attacker. "But is it possible! How did you passed my guards?"  
"Guards?" asked Scratch a bit confused and then admitted. "There were no guards."  
"But… but…" White´s face lost all his color in this second.  
"No buts Mr. White." said the psychopath with a calming voice. "Today is payday."  
"No please Scratch, don´t kill me! I give you everything! Money, power, everything!"

"I had that already! I´m not interested" replied Scratch baldly. "What I really want is information. Then I think about not killing you."  
"Okay…" White´s breath calmed a bit but it was still on the threshold to hyperventilation.  
"I want to know who is behind that all. I want the name of this damn bastard!"

"I don´t know…"  
"That is not the correct answer." Meant Scratch and lunged out with his knife.  
"No! Wait no!" screamed White. "I don´t know his real name! None of us did. We call him just the voice because he communicates with us over the phone. The only person who had contact to him was…"

"Mathew Richards, I know." Sighed Scratch. "Mr. White, I need more to let you live."  
"Okay, okay… how about this. We recently got an order from the voice…" White closed his eyes and tried to make his panicked brain describe the information correctly. "It wanted us to hire a killer to get rid of a man called Peterson."

"Peterson, the former city council that is trying to become the governor?"  
"Yes!" confirmed White. "And we have to get rid of him."  
"Why?" probed Scratch.  
"I don´t know, the voice told us that he has chances to become the governor and that this would hinder it from its business."

"That´s nonsense!" shouted Scratch. "Peterson has almost no chance to win. He´s a good guy and has good ideas but he would need a miracle to win the election!"  
"I know!" cried White. "That also made me wonder. But the voice seems to consider him as a danger. So we hired this Killer, this guy helped creating the massacre back then too. We call him Mr. Wonderful because he always says wonderful so often… I mean, you want to take vengeance on those who helped making the massacre, right? This guy is responsible too!" White hadn´t even realized that the last sentence of him was very negative against himself.

"Hm…" Scratch stepped away from White. "That are some pretty good information. Now just tell me the name of the killer."  
"I don´t know it… I hired him over the internet. But on my computer I have a picture of him. Willson meant we should take pictures of him just in case we need a lever."  
"Good, now just tell me the password of your computer."

"It´s 'VOICE' in capital letters… why?"  
"You already said it, I want to take vengeance on those who are involved in the massacre." Said Scratch smiling and rammed the knife into White´s stomach. Shocked stared the monkey on the face of his murderer. As Scratch pulled the knife out of the wound it was like somebody pulled the ground away underneath White´s feet. As he lay on the ground and the darkness around him rose his last words were "I thought… you wanted to let me live…"

"I lied." Scratch wiped the blood away from his blade and put it back into its sheath. He took some time then to make it look like a mugging. He took the wallet removed the money from it and threw it onto the body. Also the set of keys with the car key and the key for the apartment Scratch took. After he got the picture of the killer he would take White´s car and park it somewhere outside the city. Luckily he didn´t need to think about fingerprints. He wore gloves.

The apartment was on top of the building. As Scratch entered it he realized that White wasn´t a friend of decoration or furniture at all. The rooms were barely furnished what made it very easy to find the desk with the computer on it.

Scratch turned it on and entered the password. The file that contained the picture wasn´t easy to find. It took him a few minutes until he found a file called 'Peterson project.'  
As he opened the picture his eyes widened.  
He couldn´t believe it.

**-Well, what did Scratch find on White´s computer? I think we´ll find out in the next chapter.- **


	17. SHOOT ME

Calmness. Kitty came to appreciate this state over the last years more and more. Calmness meant no changes. The time stands still when calmness embraces you. And now that Dudley or Scratch or however you want to call him stepped back on the stage of her life the plot of this theater play had gained an enormous pace. It almost rushed around here and she felt incapable keeping this pace.

But sometimes it was possible to take the speed out of this all, even though just for a short moment. Always when she walked at the harbor such a moment has come. Especially when the scenery was so beautiful like it was today. The sun was sending its last rays over the ocean coloring the water with a soft warm orange which fuses at the horizon line with the sky´s strong orange. A view that makes you smile, no matter how your mood is.

Kitty closed her eyes and enjoyed warmth of the sun on her face. The cold weather of the last weeks had hidden the sun for too long under thick clouds. And although this day wasn´t warm it had at least a clear sky.

Smiling she took a deep breath of the salty sea air and breathed it out forming her feelings into one word. "Perfect."  
"So I chose a good location for our date?" asked the white dog beside her she was holding hands with.

Kitty had to laugh, she knew that Stan had asked Dudley where he should go with her. "Yeah, YOU chose perfectly."  
She didn´t see Stan´s face in that moment but she could bet that it had this mission accomplished smile on it.

"The sun is really wonderful…" sighed Stan calmly. "I mean I lived in this city for a long time but I never realized that it was so…"  
"Wonderful?" asked Kitty smiling and opened her eyes.

"Exactly." Giggled Stan. "You can´t read my mind, can you?"  
Of course Kitty couldn´t but she felt that she and Stan were somehow on the same wavelength. He was sensitive, funny and a real gentleman. Qualities that were rare among men as Kitty had realized. Also, they shared something you could call a hard past. His wife killed herself and left him with a child and she was heavily depressed and suicidal.

Not the same fates of course but they felt somehow connected. That her past was Dudley´s fault she left away as she told it. She generally said nothing about the whole Scratch Dudley story to Stan. Kitty thought that Dudley should be who tells him that.

"I wish I had this ability." Meant Kitty.  
"Yeah, think of all the possibilities! You could win every poker game."  
"Not because of that. If I had this ability, I maybe could fully understand why people do the things they do."

"What do you mean?" Stan turned away from the sun and towards her.  
Kitty did the same so they stood face to face holding hands. "I mean things like terror attacks, murders… such things. I mean what drives the people to do these things?"  
"Sometimes money, sometimes greed, sometimes injured pride… but do you think that you would understand it just because you know it? I mean maybe you know the motive but don´t understand it from your point of view how something like injured pride can drive someone to do something like that."

"So everything is dependent from the point of view, huh? I can´t really agree with that."  
"Of course not. From your point of view you can´t agree." Stan laughed loud and Kitty joined his laughter.

"Kitty" Stan started with a soft voice after it got quiet again. "I really enjoy this… I haven´t felt like that since my wife died." His head sank down and sadness conquered his face. "I mean I haven´t…"  
"Shhh…" interrupted him Kitty by pressing her index finger on his lips. "Just enjoy the moment Stan."

There was it suddenly, one of these magic moments where everything was perfect. The atmosphere, the mood and the people. All these three factors were fulfilled and so it happened. A kiss. A modest shy little kiss that flared up the flames of passion. Another kiss followed, less reserved now. And from there it didn´t took much longer until their kisses were long expressions of passion.

"Wow…" breathed Stan as they moved apart. "That was…"  
"Wonderful." Laughed Kitty also heavily breathing.  
"You read my mind ag…" Stan stopped in midsentence. A third breathing sound joined their breaths.

Kitty and Stan turned surprised around just to see Scratch who gazed at them.  
"Oh hey Dudley." Meant Stan waving his hand friendly. But Scratch didn´t answer. He just kept on staring with eyes that just brought fear to everyone who looked at them. They seemed to radiate hate and anger.

"Why Stan, why?" whispered Dudley.  
"Uhm… what do you mean?" Stan was confused. "Something wrong?"  
"There was something wrong with you, all the time… And I haven´t realized it. Was it because I was to blind or because I wasn´t there?"

"I still don´t know…"  
"I KNOW IT STAN, EVERYTHING." Scratch shouted at his brother. "I KNEW WHAT YOU´VE DONE! I KNOW ABOUT MR. WONDERFUL!"

The smile Stan wore all the time vanished from his face. "From where do you know that?"  
"White told it to me."  
"I should have never trusted this idiot…" Stan shook his head. "He took a picture of me, right?"  
"Wait, what does that mean?" Kitty asked who understood nothing.

"You know that you can´t get away with this, Stan." Scratch said ignoring Kitty´s question.  
"Oh, I will get away with this…" Stan meant and pulled his gun out of his jacket. He pointed with it directly on Kitty´s forehead. "Or you will be occupied the next hours with scratching Kitty´s brain from the ground."

Scratch answered Stan´s threat with an action. He also drew his gun and fired it immediately at the hand with that Stan holding his gun. A loud scream followed the gun´s bang and Stan sank on his knees holding his right hand.

"You damn asshole!" cursed the hurt mutt. "You will…"  
Scratch grabbed Stan by the throat and lifted him on his knees again. "No, you will pay." Another time Scratch used his gun shot it at Stan´s knee.

"You have destroyed my life!" screamed he so loud that he drowned the screams of his brother. "What have I done to you to deserve this! Answer me." Again Scratch started shooting but his time on Stan´s other knee.

"I didn´t want to…" Stan couldn´t end this sentence because Scratch fired at his leg again.  
"Don´t give me that shit." said the bald head dog and shot again. "You knew what will happen! You helped with the massacre! You could have at least warned us!" With the aid of his gun Scratch beat into his brother´s face. "Mom could be alive! 270 other people could be alive! Give me a reason Stan not to treat you like the others! Give me a reason not to kill you!"

"I am your brother." cried Stan in fear.  
"That is no reason!" Scratch let off his brother. Stan couldn´t stand on his shot legs so he fell to the ground where he breathed heavily. Coldly took Scratch his gun and aimed at Stan´s head. "Just one reason." He whispered.

"It was for Jenny." Meant Stan spitting blood. "She was sick… I needed money."  
"WHY HAVEN´T YOU ASK FOR IT THEN?" Scratch shouted. "I had given you all my money Stan. Everything."  
"That would have never been enough…" breathed Stan. "I had to do something… or she would have died… I never knew that… I was just providing him with a gun I couldn´t realize that…"

"I said don´t come up with this shit!" screamed Scratch again.  
"Dudley, please!"  
"I´m sorry Stan." Sighed Scratch cocking his gun.

Kitty watched the whole scene in disbelieve. She couldn´t really realize what was happening there. She was somehow paralyzed through her confusion and disbelieve. But now as she saw that Scratch had thrown his brother to the ground and pointing with the gun at his head her she had regained her agility. She picked up Stan´s gun that lay beside her and ran to Scratch.

"Stop it!" she screamed and raised the gun.  
"No…" replied Scratch and turned around. "He was part of the massacre. I have to do this."  
"No you don´t have to do this. You´ve done enough!"

"Can´t you understand, Kitty?!" Asked Scratch angrily. "He was part of that! It´s also his fault what happened! I can´t let him go away!"  
"And I can´t let you do this!" she shouted and also cocked her gun.

"Then do it!" Scratch grabbed the barrel of her gun and pressed it at his forehead. "Stop me, pull the trigger. It´s over then! You got rid of me. Or don´t you have the guts? Come on, shoot me! Shoot me! SHOOT ME!"

"Dudley, what…" Kitty stared in disbelieve at Scratch. What was just happening?  
"SHOOT ME!" he screamed. "THEN THIS IS FINALLY OVER! THIS WHOLE MADNESS IS OVER THEN. DO ME ONE FAVOR AND SHOOT ME! I WANT THIS TO STOP! PLEASE!"

Kitty just kept on staring at him. Her brain still couldn´t quite grasp what was just happening. There was Scratch in front of her begging for his death. A few months earlier she had pulled the trigger… Damn, even a few days earlier she had maybe pulled the trigger. But now there was something in her that doesn´t want to hurt him. Something that even pitied him.

But then her gaze fell on Stan, who laid there with legs that were shot to pieces, and the anger rose in her again. She ripped her gun out of Scratch´s suicidal grip and beat the handle of it directly in his face. Blood spitting the dog went down on his knees. Scratch glared angrily at her and held his bleeding nose. He wanted to stand up again but Kitty kept him on the ground by pointing with her gun at him which she held tight with both of her hands.

"What are you think you doing here?" she snorted with fury. "You come here and attacking your brother?!"  
"Yeah, what a great brother!" said Scratch despairingly. "Helps to make a massacre…"  
"But this is no reason to do something like… that!" she screamed shocked. "It´s your brother, Dudley! Or is there still a piece of Dudley in you?" Kitty let her gun slowly down. "Is Dudley Puppy dead? Is there just Scratch?"

Scratch said nothing, he just stared at the ground and watched how his blood dripped down. Maybe he didn´t want to answer, or he just didn´t know what to answer. The result was the same.  
But instead of him the other member of the Puppy family raised his voice. "Scratch?" Stan coughed blood spitting. "Wait, you are Scratch?"

"Yes he is." Answered Kitty for Scratch.  
"Oh… then I have a massage for you." Even though the mutt must have been suffered great pains, a smile similar to that smile that Scratch always had on his face, spurred his lips to smile. "We have the girl…"

"What?" Scratch had raised his look from the ground and gazed over his shoulder to his bleeding brother.  
"You got me. Your girl… Parva. We got her… And if you should kill Mr. White she will have the same fate as him…"

Scratch fall silent, with eyes wide open he turned around. The shock was written in the psychopath´s face.  
"Oh…" laughed Stan, even if that more sounded like an anguished cry. "I understand… Then it´s already too late for her."

"WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO HER!" Scratch jumped on Stan and started maltreating his face with his fists. "TELL ME WHAT…"  
"FREEZE!" a familiar voice suddenly screamed and startled the little group. The tall cheetah and her sidekick together with a lot of other agents stood with their guns at firing position and just waited for a reason to use their guns.

"GET OF THIS MAN!" screamed Keswick who really seemed to enjoy the feeling to have a gun in his hands.  
But Scratch didn´t obey, he just kept beating.  
Jessica and Keswick looked grinning at each other. And after the scientist received a little nod from his boss he did it. He pulled the trigger. A short scream of pain later Scratch laid beside his brother on the ground and held his shoulder.

"Good shot!" praised Jessica approving the result.  
"I actually aimed f..f..for the head." Keswick laughed.  
"If you hit the head I had bought you a beer Keswick."

"Oh my god what are you two doing?" shouted Kitty surprised by their arrival.  
"Your job." Meant Jessica holstering her gun. "Arresting one of the most dangerous criminals worldwide." Triumphing the cheetah strode to the writhing psychopath. "Dudley Puppy. I you are arrested." With a skilful placed kick she made Scratch turning on his back so she could handcuff him.

In the meantime a team of paramedics took care of the hurt Stan. Now that Scratch, the threat, was gone, they were allowed to tend his wounds. Or better, they were trying to save his life.  
What happened then was even more surreal for Kitty than what happened before. Scratch didn´t even try to resist against getting arrested. He just accepted it.

In every moment until Jessica put him into the T.U.F.F. van she thought he would escape. She knew that he could escape from such situations, she knew the stories but Scratch just went with them. It seemed that he didn´t want to fight anymore. It seemed that he gave up.

Actually Kitty thought that she would be happy to see that but now she felt… nothing. Neither joy nor sadness. There was just a big question mark in her head.  
"His own b..b..brother." Keswick walked up to her and shook his head. "He is sick…"  
"Maybe…" meant Kitty pensively.

"Maybe? You don´t still have s..s..sympathy with him, do you?" the little scientist eyed the questioning stare of the cat for a while before he finally sighed. "Anyway, come on, before J..J..Jessica leaves without us… I don´t want to miss the i..i..interrogation."


	18. Escape

"Dudley Puppy aka Scratch." Jessica said and walked around the little table in the interrogation room Scratch was sitting at. "The torturer. The drug baron. The legend. The man who kills without batting an eye." Jessica stopped her pace laughing behind Scratch who stared down at the table. "Finally I got you. And it was much easier than expected."

"So?" growled the dog back.  
"Well, it took us some preparation but in the end… well you see the result. No harmed agent but you have a hole in your shoulder."  
"I was harmed worse." Replied Scratch.

"Oh, I believe that." She patted his shoulder almost violently what made the dog hiss in pain. "So…" she said walking to the other side of the table where a small file lay. She pushed it nonchalantly grinning over to him with the words. "I have prepared something."

Scratch opened the file and found something he had expected. "A confession?"  
"Yep, a confession." Confirmed Jessica. "Just that you shot these two FBI-agent in Seattle and that you killed Robson and Johnson… or did you already proceed?"  
"Maybe."

"Okay, then Robson, Johnson and White." Shrugged Jessica. "You sign here otherwise I will let someone in here to talk with you who isn´t so civil like me."  
"Who, Kitty?" Scratch laughed. "I´m not afraid of Kitty... she had her chance to kill me."  
"No, I will let Kitty in if you sign, if not, I swap places with Keswick."

The dog almost fell from his chair as he heard that. "Keswick? Really?!" he laughed  
"You wouldn´t laugh if you had heard him talk lately." Meant Jessica gazing deadly serious at him. "This little guy is scary as hell."

"Do we really talk about the same Keswick?" asked Scratch and wiped some tears of laughter off the corners of his eyes.  
"Yes we do. Now sign the papers."  
Scratch fell silent again and stared at the papers while Jessica stared at Scratch.

She didn´t know if he was just in the middle of a decision process or if he plotted to get out of here but whatever he was doing, he was doing it to slow. And Jessica felt how she slowly got angrier the longer Scratch stared.

_"God… how long does this guy need to accept that he lost?"_ she thought annoyed. Also what Scratch said next wasn´t really calming her nerves.  
"I need some time to think about it."  
"Sure." She said clenching her fists. "Take as much time as you want." Jessica gave Scratch an angry glare then she left the room and joined the little group of people, consisting of Kitty and Keswick, on the other side of the mirror-window.

"Even though we captured him this guy doesn´t stop to unnerve me!" the cheetah rolled her eyes as she stepped to the others.  
"I know what you m..m..mean." replied Keswick. "If I could I would kill him right now."  
"I better take your gun." Mumbled Jessica a bit intimidated. "Before you maybe do something you regret."

"I would r..r..regret nothing." Said Keswick and drew his gun. Lovingly he started gently stroking the metal.  
"Okaaay… be careful with that… and holster it." Jessica ordered and Keswick obeyed reluctantly.  
"Good good." She praised before she turned to Kitty. "What do you think about that?"

Kitty was, just like Scratch, silent. She stared at the dog who still stared at the papers. Within the last hours she had some time to thought about all this. Time to come to terms with what Scratch did to his brother. Again her image of him changed and she wondered what was really left of Dudley in this man.

Should she treat him like that what he was? A once precious part of her life that did something terrible to her, because of circumstances she could understand but not really forgive? Someone you should rather pity than hate.  
Or should she finally treat him like what he is? A dangerous and unpredictable criminal that would push any button to reach his goals. A man that would stop at nothing.

She considered all the reasons for the one and the other side and now her decision was certain. "Switch off the cameras and microphones." She growled and entered the room. Jessica and Keswick watched the whole scene from the other side of the window. They heard how Scratch greeted Kitty tiredly with the words "Hey Kitty" and saw how he received Kitty´s fist in his face as an answer.

"Listen to me you pathetic poor imitation of a criminal. Listen carefully! Concentrate Dudley!" before the mutt could reply Kitty´s sharp claws wiped over his face.  
"I think we e..e..eavesdropped enough." Grinned Keswick evilly and switched of the cameras and the microphones on the little panel beside the big window pane and then added "But we can still w..w..watch."

"A movie without tone?" Jessica meant raising her eyebrow. "That´s like a burger without patty."  
"Yep, but the nevertheless, the veggie-burger version of this will be also q..q..quite satisfying." And Keswick should be proved right. Kitty really gave Scratch hell. She let her fist drum on his face, scratched with her claws deep wounds into his chest and yelled at him things that Jessica and Keswick maybe couldn´t understand but that you could easily conclude from the context.

"Whuu… you promised not to less. Little man." Jessica nodded approvingly.  
"Yep… nice c..c..catharsis."  
"Hey guys… whoa…" Rick entered the room and immediately stopped seeing the spectacle behind the window pane. "Is that Scratch?"

"Yes." The other two watchers confirmed.  
Rick squeezed between Keswick and Jessica and joined them watching. "And Kitty is beating the shit out of him?"

"Obviously yes."  
"Awesome." Jessica and Keswick turned their heads startled to the squirrel. Did that just came from Rick Lewis? The most harmless agent working at T.U.F.F. ?  
"Seems like someone also got a bone to pick with this guy in there." Jessica grinned and turned back to the window.

"Yes, I have…" growled Rick angrily. "I would give my right arm to have five minutes with this guy."  
"What do you t..t..think chief? Should we give Rick a little unmonitored time with good old Scratch?" suggested Keswick grinning.

"Excellent idea…" Jessica pushed a little button underneath the window and called. "Kitty. You had enough fun. Get out."  
In the room Kitty lifted her blood smeared fist heavily breathing for a last time and let it rush down on Scratch. "I hope you got it now!"

"Sure…" growled Scratch back.  
"Good." She nodded and left the room but her place wasn´t empty for a long time, not a second later the squirrel in the suit that was too big for him came in. Like Kitty he built himself up in front of Scratch and started beating him. But compared with Kitty´s punches that what Rick did couldn´t be called beating. It was more a tickling.

"Boy boy boy!" Scratch suddenly shouted as he endured a bit of this pseudo beating. "Is that really supposed to hurt me?"  
"You Bastard!" shouted Rick without stopping his fist storm. "I hate you!"  
"And why that?"

"You know why!"  
"Boy, so many people hate me…" Scratch started "I can´t always remember why. Wait… the bullet back then!"  
"No you evil son of a bitch!" Rick roared and laid is hands on Scratch´s throat. "I mean Parva!"

"Oh…" croaked Scratch who tried to ignore the chocking as good as possible. "The honeypot…. So you know it?"  
"Yes, I know it." Hissed the squirrel and tightened his grip around Scratch´s neck. "Do you know how that feels? If you love someone and then you realized that she just played with your heart? I can tell you! Devastating! And I blame you! You send her to squeeze me out! This is all your fault!"

Even though the grip of Rick wasn´t really firm for Scratch standards, the bald dog could see how the lights around him slowly started to fade. It seems that the little squirrel was pressing the right places on his throat. So Scratch didn´t know if the next words were his honest feelings or just a tactic to avoid the coming unconsciousness. "I am sorry."

"What?" Rick asked and loosened his grab around Scratch´s neck confused.  
"I´m sorry!" coughed Scratch and breathed for air. "I know that it was maybe… false to involve you and her in this honeypot stuff but it was necessary."

"Necessary?!" screamed Rick. "Necessary for what? For your stupid plan?!"  
"Yes, I needed these information to keep Jessica and Keswick of my back." Explained Scratch objectively even though it must have sounded just cold for Rick. "That´s how the business goes boy, don´t get too upset about it."

"Don´t tell me what to do you piece of shit!" Rick ran with both of his hands irritated through his hair. "So this was all your plan? You put her onto me, let her squeeze me out and as you didn´t need me anymore you just let her drop her cover and break my heart? I haven´t even expected this from a…"

"What do you mean with drop her cover?" Scratch interrupted Rick.  
"She had told me who she really is in this café yesterday… and then she even had the brass to lie to me." Rick rolled his eyes laughing bitterly. "Like I would believe this shit about she´s loving me. Ha! Bullshit!"

"If my hands wouldn´t be cuffed I would beat the hell out of you." growled Scratch. "For being the stupidest asshole in asshole history."  
Rick didn´t hesitate long and slapped Scratch immediately after hearing this. "What was that?" he added triumphing to his slap.

"She didn´t lie to you 'cucurbitae caput'! I never gave her the order to drop her cover!"  
"And I should believe you that?"  
"Believe me, gullible 'stolidi' like you are perfect sources for intel. I would have never given her that order."

"So why did she do that then?"  
Scratch buried his face exhausted in his hands. Was this guy really so slow on the uptake? Or was it really so hard to understand. "Because she wanted to end with the lies between you, god dammit!"  
"What?"

"Seriously, I´m going to choke you if you say what again!" nagged Scratch and detached his hands from his face just to slam them furiously on the table then. "She wanted to end the lying to start something real with you! But you chased her away… and now they have her."

Rick´s world stopped for a little moment, a little moment the time around him came to a full standstill. And he began to realize, everything was true! All the moments between them all the kisses. The pure affection he gave her didn´t stay unrequited. Sure, he was still angry on her for lying to him but the feeling that nothing everything was a lie, that the important thing was the truth, was just overwhelming.

But one part of Scratch last sentence bothered Rick. "They have her?"  
"Yes, the people I´m chasing have kidnapped her… maybe to put a lever on me so I would stop my killing spree."  
"You mean she is in danger?!" Rick went pale.

"Yes." Confirmed Scratch the bad news baldly. "And that´s why I need to get out of here! And you have to help me!"  
"What? No, Scratch no. I can´t do that!"  
"Dammit Rick she loves you! Don´t let her down! I beg you."

Rick hesitated, he knew that if he would help this man his career was over. But on the other side if someone could save Parva, it was him. "How far would you go?" Rick asked and this time it was Scratch who asked the W-question. "What?"

"I want to know how far you would go to save her." Rick asked and looked with a serious expression at the psychopath. "You want much from me and I don´t want to help you escape just to see you let her down and run away because these guys want you to do something you don´t like."

Angry the bald head dog leaned forward to him and hissed. "Listen to me boy, and listen closely, this girl is part of my team, of my family. She is like a daughter for me and I would stop at nothing to save her. And I swear to you if these guys have just laid one finger on her I´ll make their death slow and painful, so that these bastards wish that their pathetic parents had never given birth to them."

The squirrel nodded, that was the answer he expected, the answer that was necessary for him helping Scratch. "How can I help you?"  
"Just be incompetent in the right moment, oh and send Keswick in."  
"Keswick, what do you want of him?"

"He´ll be my ticket out of here." Scratch explained.  
"Do I want to know what you mean?"  
"No." Scratch said coldly.

"Okay." Replied Rick and slapped Scratch a last time. "Sorry, but it has to look like I leave the room angry. It has to look real."  
"Good idea." Howled the criminal and watched the squirrel leaving the room. Scratch expected that Keswick would enter next and he could start his escape immediately.

But instead of the little T.U.F.F. scientist a tall thin unknown male sheep in a black suit entered the room. In his left hand he held a briefcase which he put on the table. "Hello Mr. Scratch." Said the guy and sat at the table.

"Hello." Replied Scratch obviously confused. "Uhm…With whom do I have the pleasure of speaking?"  
"Oh… just call me your lawyer." The guy said. "Mr. Willson hired me to represent your and his interests."

"Awful nice of him. But there is one problem." Scratch narrowed his eyes and started to whisper. "Willson and I have no common interests."  
"Oh, I wouldn´t say that I mean both of you care a lot about the fate of a young woman." The lawyer had a grin on his face Scratch just knew from himself.

"I swear if you…"  
"Calm calm, Mr. Scratch." The sheep interrupted him speaking in a stately rythm. "She is still fine but what happens next is up to you." The lawyer opened is briefcase and rummaged phlegmatically in it. He pulled a picture out and held it in front of Scratch´s nose. Parva was in it. She was tied on a chair and had a gag in her mouth. Her big wide opened eyes were full of fear.

"We were quite… depressed as we heard of the death of Mr. White but… We are willing to give you another chance. Regard it as magnanimity on our part."  
"What do you want?" replied Scratch gritting his teeth.

"More power, what else. There is this one person who is our bête noire and we want to get rid of this individual. If you help us… we let the girl go."  
"And who guarantees me that you do?"

"Nobody. We just give you the chance to save her. If you don´t take it she will definitely die." Shrugged the lawyer and packed the photo back into the attaché case. "So Mr. Scratch, I need an answer now. Mr. Willson is waiting."  
"I… do it." Scratch beat his fist on the table. "Who´s the target?"

"Straight to the point Mr. Scratch, good." The lawyer grinned softly. "Your target is Kitty Katswell."  
Scratch jaw dropped. The only question he could speak out was the question Rick has asked him so often. "What?!"

"I think I spoke loud and clearly…"said the lawyer fixing his tie knot. "An easy trade… Katswell dies and Marry Stevens aka Parva is allowed to live. You have six hours." Then he stood up and walked to the exit. "Oh and Mr. Scratch." He turned around a last time before he left. "This is your one and only chance. Don´t ruin it."

And again, Scratch was alone. But this time this he wasn´t pleased about that. He rather got beaten up than making the decision he had to make now. But had to make it otherwise Parva would… No! He wouldn´t allow that this girl dies somewhere in a dusty cellar, he wouldn´t allow that the last thing that she felt was fear. But on the other side, could he really kill Kitty?

He once loved her and caused her great pains which she could just slowly get rid of. So would it be fair then to take her breath now that her life was finally slowly looking up?  
What should he do? Should Seneca proven right in the end? Would he really always choose Kitty when he had to decide between them and her?

Scratch weighed up pros and cons in his mind. That maybe sounds a bit cold but he knew that the most stupid thing in such situations is to react emotionally. Reacting emotionally is like reacting headlessly. That never led to something good. Of course the pros and cons he weighed up weren´t so cold.

He thought about Kitty´s and his time together and about the pains he caused her but also about how she treated him over the last days and especially ten minutes ago when she beat him up. Then he thought about Parva and about the fact that she was still young and part of his little 'family'.  
So the question was old love or new luck. And if you see it rationally, there is only one choice to make.

So Scratch took a deep breath and called. "The micros are on again, aren´t they? I think I´m ready to sign the confession now…"  
It was like they just waited for this sentence. Immediately the doors were pushed open and a smiling Keswick entered the room with a pen in his hand.

"So you have the honor?" Scratch asked the scientist as he came closer.  
"Obviously y..y..yes." giggled Keswick and laid the pen on the confession. "Well, Dudley, g..g..game over."

"Seems so." Sighed Scratch and grabbed the pen with his handcuffed hands. Clumsy he turned his hands in an attempt to bring them into a position so he could sign the papers. "Oh come on…" he mumbled the longer it took.

Keswick rolled his eyes annoyed. "Seriously… that can´t be t..t..that hard."  
"Hey, you see that I try, don´t you? I just can´t…"  
"Yeah yeah, come on, I´ll h..h..help you…" Keswick fished a little key out of his pocket and opened the handcuffs. "Here you go, now sign the c..c..confession."

"Thanks Keswick." Said Scratch rubbing his wrists. "I hate it being cuffed."  
"Yeah yeah… whatever. Now take this pen and get to w..w..work."  
"Oh I will." chuckled Scratch and grabbed the pen. But instead of signing the papers he lunged out and let the writing utensil sink deep into Keswick´s shoulder.

The surprise and the sudden pain that struck the small scientist shoulder gave Scratch enough time to grab the gun that hung in Keswick´s belt holster. Swiftly Scratch got behind Keswick and used him as a shield while holding the gun against his head.

"Son of a…" moaned Keswick but received immediately a hit from Scratch with the handle of the gun.  
"Shut up!" he commanded walking together with Keswick to the door of the interrogation room. On the other side were like Scratch expected it already a bunch of T.U.F.F. agents that were pointing with their guns at him. Among them also Kitty, Jessica and Rick.

"Give up Puppy!" shouted Jessica at him as he opened the door.  
"I don´t think so." Replied Scratch grinning manically. "You know I am the one with the hostage, so I am the one who makes the rules."  
"Shoot him!" hissed Keswick. "He won´t harm me, just shoot him."

"Oh really Keswick?" Scratch took the gun away from Keswick´s head, pointed it at his right feet and pulled the trigger. Again Keswick howled in pains and the agents around twitched startled. "The period of grace is over."

"You are sick!" screamed Jessica.  
"I heard that so often… it isn´t bothering me anymore. Anyway, now that you are in such a talkative mood I´m ready to negotiate for Keswick´s life. First what I want. The T.U.F.F. mobile and an open garage door. Also no pursuers. Second, how long you have to get the stuff ready. Five minutes. Now the consequence of disobedience. I will spread Keswick´s valuable brain on this wall over there. End of the negotiations. The time is ticking."

"What you want is…" started Kitty but Scratch interrupted her immediately.  
"Tick tok tick tok. Tempus fugit." He giggled.  
All guns were pointed at Scratch in this moment but all eyes were on Jessica. She was the chief so she was in charge if she would risk Keswick´s life or gave in to Scratch´s demands.

"Let him pass." She said lowering her gun.  
"What?!" a shocked agent exclaimed.  
"You heard me, let him pass. This time you won Scratch but next…"

"Like I give a fuck about your empty threats! Just do what I told you to, agent!" Scratch shouted.  
The crowed of agents withdrew to a side of the room and let Scratch and Keswick go through the door.

"Darn it!" screamed Jessica as both of them were outside the room.  
"So what´s next?" asked Kitty.  
"We stop him, what else." Replied the cheetah fumed with rage.

"And how? He shoots Keswick if we try!"  
"We have those spikes at the exit of the garage so that someone can´t get out of here with a car, haven´t we? We use them, Scratch car will come to standstill and then we got him. We just need someone who activates the spikes."

"I´ll do it." meant Rick confident.  
"Okay." Nodded Jessica. "The rest of you, follow me to the garage exit. We just have four minutes left!"

Scratch had arrived in the garage in the meantime and started to shoot at the tires of all other vehicles except the T.U.F.F. mobile. Always with having Keswick in a self-protecting chokehold.  
"Give up!" hissed Keswick winding.

"No, not yet." Scratch said and pushed the scientist into the trunk of the T.U.F.F. mobile, the last car with functioning tires. The bald head dog sat down onto the passenger seat of the car and opened the plastic paneling under the steering wheel. He knew what to do, Seneca showed him how to hot-wire a car more than often. So it didn´t take a long time until the motor ignited.

"Nice." Whispered Scratch to himself and hit the gas. The loud screeching of the tires echoed together with the rev up of the motor through the garage. A dead giveaway for the agents at the exit that they have to get ready. "Okay, guys…" shouted Jessica. "He´ll be here in three two one…"

Just before Jessica was about to scream 'Zero' the white car rushed out of the garage and turned undisturbed left into the street. In disbelieve Jessica looked behind the car. Shouldn´t there be some spikes that cut the tires as soon as it left the garage?

Powerlessly Jessica had to watch how Scratch turned left another time and then disappeared.  
"YOU GOT TO BE KIDING ME!" yelled Jessica at the other agents. In her rage she ripped her wristcom of her wrist and screamed into it. "RICK YOU INCOMPETEND IDIOT! YOU JUST HAD ONE JOB! HOW COULD YOU MESS UP THIS ONE JOB?! YOU BETTER RUN NOW BECAUSE IF I GET YOUR UGLY ASS I`M GOING TO RIP IT APART! YOU HEAR ME! I´LL RIP IT APART!"

"Whoa chief…" meant one of the intimidated agents. "Calm down I mean..."  
"CALM DOWN?!" Jessica grabbed the agent tall muscle packed agent at his collar and pulled him close to her. "Do you even know what you are talking about? Or is your brain already wasted by the steroids you take? This man is gone now! We just had this one chance or do you think that he will now let his guard down?"

"I… maybe…"  
"SHUT UP" she roared into his face and almost brought the big guys to tears.  
"Enough Jessica!" intervened Kitty.  
"You!" Jessica let the agent go and built herself up in front of Kitty. "You can´t tell me what to do! You´re not in charge!"

"Don´t come up with this Jessica! Scratch just escape, under your management! So instead of discussing about who´s in charge we rather should think how we can catch…" The loud ringing of her cellphone cut Kitty short in mid-sentence.

"You better take that call!" meant Jessica with angry sarcasm. "It´s definitely the most important thing right now."  
Kitty just sighed and pressed the speaker on her ear. "What?!"

"Pier 3, in 45 minutes." It came with commanding tone out of the phone. "If you don´t come alone, Keswick dies. If you come too late, Keswick dies. If you come armed, Keswick dies. We´ll end this once and forever, tonight." And then as sudden as the conversation started, it was over.

Perplex Kitty put the cellphone away. "That was Scratch…" she added.  
"Scratch! Already?!" Jessica asked even more confused than Kitty. "What does he want?"  
"He… wants me. He wants that I come to him in about two hours."

"Then let´s go!" meant Jessica filled with new hope and dynamism.  
"No, he wants me to come alone, if not he´ll kill Keswick!" protested Kitty vehemently.  
"Then we reinforce you with some command units. Stealth and with nightvision. I can have a dozen man here in about 60 minutes."

"That would take us too long! Besides that we talk about Scratch! Also I think he expected that! And will take them down before they reach him."  
"But we also talk about Dudley Puppy!" replied Jessica. "He isn´t demigod! He is defeatable! We saw that on the harbor!"

"There isn´t anything of Dudley Puppy left in him." Said Kitty coldly and handed her gun to Jessica. "He said unarmed. But I´ll take a knife with me. Maybe I can use it in the right moment and stab his black heart."  
"You won´t go there! That´s an order!" shouted Jessica angrily.

"So? Then you better take this too." Kitty handed Jessica her badge. "That´s just the conclusion. If I have to give up my T.U.F.F. career to get this daemon of my life, then it be like that."  
"Kitty no there is another way, come on!"  
"No it isn´t." the cat stated. "It will end. Tonight. He or I. These are the only choices."

"Kitty you can´t just walk to your death! That´s suicide."  
"Wouldn´t be the first attempt." Said Kitty and ran into the small alley nearby followed by Jessica who shouted. "Kitty stop!"

But it had no use, as soon as she arrived the alley the cat sprinted light-footed towards one of the walls and ran a few steps straight upwards before she pushed herself of the wall. With this jumped she reached the edge of the building on the other side where she pulled herself up and then completely disappeared on the rooftop.

Jessica watched in amazement Kitty´s moves. It was strange but the only question that came to her mind wasn´t where she would meet him or if she will make it, no, the only questions she wondered about was: "Where and when did Kitty learn parkour?"

**- "cucurbitae caput" = "pumpkin head" (meant as an insult... of course); "stolidus" = "idiot" -**


	19. How it had to end

It´s not really that hard to make a car to a rolling bomb. Actually every car is a rolling bomb with the immense amount of fuel that it´s containing. Who ever poured fuel into an open fire knows the enormous flame and also the second degree burns that result from that. Multiply this explosive flame by 1,000 and add a bit of explosive placed on the tank with it, there you have a pretty useful bomb that you can also drive.

Scratch didn´t had to drive his bomb to any location anymore, the old abandoned storage hall at the docks was a perfect location for what he was up to. It stood at the right place, exactly where he needed it. Like it was made exactly made for something like that.

Placing the explosives under the car felt for him like a deja-vu. Last time he did that he wanted to scare Kitty with that so she keeps her nose out of the whole issue. It didn´t work. But this time it would, mainly because of the main difference between this T.U.F.F. car and the old one. And that difference was a stammering scientist that lay in the trunk who piped up. "Let me o..o..out!"

"That sounds like a demand." Stated Scratch calmly while he attached the last parts to make the car to a bomb.  
"Because it is one! I want you to o..o..open the trunk!" meant the scientist.  
"So that you have the chance to escape? Hm… no. I don´t think that´ll happen." Scratch crawled out from under the car and stood up. "Also you don´t want to see what happens next."

"Why? What h..h..happens next?"  
"Fate happens, Keswick. The story of two people will find its unavoidable end today. The tale will end how it has to end. The book will be closed. Mors ultima linea rerum est." He recited with a bit of sadness in his voice  
"Geeze Dudley! Can´t you say this so that I c..c..can understand this?" complained Keswick.

"You´ll figure it out yourself soon… Like the mayor… If I get him into my paws after that I will let him pay for letting me doing this I… " The dark shadow that landed almost inaudible behind Scratch on the hard concrete ground of the hall made him stop in midsentence. It was time, the showdown should begin.

No grin was on his face as he turned around. Not even a bit of him tried to make the corners of his mouth form the known and by much hated ice-block melting smile. In the end, this wasn´t a situation that made him grin.

"So you are here." Scratch stated toneless.  
"Where else should I be?" replied Kitty. "In a contrary to you people mean something to me and aren´t just pieces of a big game of chess that you sacrifice if you need it."  
"I´m sorry that you have this image of me Kitty. Even if I´m afraid that you´re right." Scratch opened the jacket of his suit and folded it carefully together. "I just want you to know that… you´re not a pawn sacrifice."

"Should I feel flattered now?" she asked as the dog also took of his tie. "Flattered that killing me is something special for you."  
"No… I just want you to understand that this won´t be easy for me. And again I want to apologize for all the pain I brought to you… and for this last bit of pain I will bring to you." Scratch sighed.  
"We´ll see about that Dudley."

"Yeah…" nodded Scratch. "So, should we begin?"  
Kitty answered his question by running towards him lunging out her arm to hit him with maximum speed. She was fast, the strike had maybe knocked Scratch out if he hadn´t evaded it. The swift move that helped him dodging gave him the chance to grab her by her clothes and toss her to the ground.

But Kitty was also fast, faster than Scratch had expected. Before he even realized it she was back on her feet and slammed her fist against his chin. Dazed staggered the canine a few steps back and received a nasty hit in his stomach. He bend forward in pain what made Kitty take the chance to ram her knee into his face.

However, this time the tables turned, Scratch was the one who was faster now. With one hand he caught the knee with the other he shoot up to beat into Kitty´s face. The short moment of distraction he got through that he used to grab Kitty and run with her against the next wall. Kitty let out a pain-filled cough as she hit the wall. Scratch attack hit home. Kitty couldn´t move, he pressed her with all his strength against the wall.

"I´m sorry Kitty." He mumbled as he moved his hands to her throat and embraced it slowly with every single finger. "I think we both knew that it had to end like that. Even if I hoped that the whole thing had taken another course."

"STOP THIS RIGHT NOW!" screamed a furious voice behind Scratch that made him let Kitty go and turn around. Jessica stood there, alone but with her colt loaded and ready in her hands.  
"Oh who came there!" called Scratch out loudly. "The chief herself!"

"SHUT THE FUCK UP SCRATCH AND PUT YOUR HANDS UP! IT´S OVER!"  
"No it just began." Roared the psychopath and pulled a little black walkie-talkie looking thing out. "I´ll explain it easy. Deadman-switch and the bomb is under the car and in the car is your scientist. So if you don´t want to heave a crispy Keswick out of the trunk… give me the gun and let me sort this out."

"NO! Not this time Scratch! This perverse game ends now! I will neither let Kitty nor Keswick die!"  
"I REALLY DON`T HAVE TIME FOR THAT!" shouted Scratch and walked towards Jessica. "It´s a really simple question, Kitty or Keswick."

There was it, probably the hardest decision in Jessica´s life. It wasn´t just a plain decision between two options. It was more. It was about career or friendship, her own goals or the good of the others, about death… and death. Scratch forced her to play god, no, to play death. What should she do?

Sacrificing Keswick? Sure this step would be the easiest and oddly also the most logically step. A simple pull on the guns trigger and Scratch would be history. She had stopped one of the most dangerous criminals worldwide. The aftermaths? The end of Scratch´s killing spree, a promotion, a pay raise, a place in the history books but also a funeral.

Some people maybe would think that she wouldn´t care about a funeral if it would help her to get the promotion but Jessica wasn´t that cold. Especially not when it comes to Keswick. She really started liking the little T.U.F.F. scientist and also thought about asking him to drink a beer with her, as friends of course. After all, Keswick wasn´t really her type.

On the other hand, sacrificing Kitty sounded worse. It would mean Scratch is on the run and she had nothing than a dead agent. Also, she maybe never liked Kitty but never had the intention to harm her physically at least not so much that it causes her death.

In the end, it was the wish for Keswick´s survival, the friendship she felt for him and the hope that there was something left of Dudley Puppy in Scratch that would hinder him from killing Kitty that made her say "Sort it out."

"Good." Nodded Scratch as Jessica laid her colt on the ground and kicked it over the ground towards him. He picked up the gun and holstered it. Then he deactivated the dead-man-switch and put it inside his breast pocket before he walked back to Kitty who still was holding her throat retching on her knees.

"Let´s end this once and for all." His heavy hands were about to claps around her slender throat again but Kitty didn´t seem to accept her fate yet. The knife she hid in her boot the whole time came to use. With surprising speed she jumped towards her opponent and thrust the knife into his shoulder.

Fortunately, for her, exactly at the spot where Keswick had shot Scratch recently.  
"You got to be…" howled the dog backing off the cat.  
"You really thought it would be that easy?" coughed Kitty angrily.

"No" hissed the psychopath and pulled the knife out of his shoulder. "But you just made it very easy for me." Scratch was a good fighter, that was sure. He was experienced with pistols, rifles, heavy artillery, fist fighting but if you let it happen that a knife fell in his hands, you could also immediately give up.

Kitty had no idea, she had just seen him fighting with a knife back then in the church against Young. But if she had known that Young had been the only worthy opponent in this discipline she had thought twice to bring a knife to a fist fight.

From this moment on everything went so fast, at least from Jessica´s point of view. She had to watch the whole thing unable to intervene without risking Keswick´s life. Scratch started sprinting towards Kitty, dodged the fists she threw at him and then bumped into her with the knife ahead. And exactly in that moment, the moment of the collision, the time stopped. Jessica saw the scene like an old oil painting in front of her.

Like Rembrandt himself painted the scene. Scratch, close to Kitty, like he was hugging her but with his hand still embracing the knife around which her clothes started to soak the warm blood that escaped her body. The cold and unforgiving eyes of the dog darted a stern glance at Kitty while she returned the psychopath look with a face full of surprise and disbelieve, like she had never expected it that he really did what he had done.

Then, after some time which felt like a complete eternity for Jessica, the scene started moving again. Scratch still stood there watching how a single tear started rolling down Kitty´s cheek. The other hand, that was not holding the knife, he laid gently on her face and wiped this single tear away.

"We both knew that it had to end like that." He said in a somehow comforting way. "Don´t cry."  
"I… don´t want to…" She gasped in heavy pains.  
"I know… I know…" With a jerky movement Scratch removed the knife from Kitty´s stomach and exposed her body to the gravity.

Kitty collapsed, in silence. No cry no moan no last words were heard from her. It was like she had just given up. Given in to the man that destroyed her whole life, given in to a force that now finally managed to break her completely.

"SWINE! YOU DAMN SWINE!" screamed Jessica as Scratch knelt down to the dead body of her former rival. She also couldn´t believe it. And less she couldn´t believe that she really let that happen.

"I´m just that what they made out of me." He said putting his arms under Kitty and lifting her gently up. "If you excuse me now. I´ll change a corpse against a person that is still breathing." Scratch started to walk slowly to the exit of the storage hall.

As he kicked the metal door open the salty sea breeze welcomed him. "In ten minutes you can open the trunk without any problem. The bomb is dismantled then." A few steps later Scratch and Kitty´s body were just part of the darkness of the night.

Jessica didn´t lose any time, even though she knew that she was allowed to open the trunk in ten minutes, she already rushed to the car. "Keswick? Are you okay?"  
"Yes I am." The T.U.F.F. scientist called. "Well, my foot his hurting but beside that… Anyway, what happened out there?"

"I… Kitty… I…" Jessica stammered feeling how her eyes started to fill with water again. More because of shock then because of real grieve about Kitty.  
"What?"

"HE KILLED KITTY!" it burst out of her.  
"WHAT?!" Keswick screamed and started furiously kicking against the trunk lid. "I´M GOING TO KILL HIM!"

"Keswick watch out!" she yelled pressing down the lid so that Keswick couldn´t kick it open. "We can open it in ten minutes."  
"We don´t h..h..have time for that!" the scientist meant stop kicking.  
"What do you mean?"

"We still have the chance to get him!" explained Keswick screaming "Go and rip out his BLACK HEART!"  
"And where should I search for him?!" Jessica screamed back suppressing more tears.  
"He mentioned the mayor. I don´t know if he´ll go there i..i..immediately but he will."  
"That´s all you got?"

"Jessica, you may haven´t r..r..realized it but I´M IN A FUCKING TRUNK! The fact that I HAVE any kind of i..i..information is evidence of the incapacity of all T.U.F.F. agents!" Keswick roared. "And now get off and make a bleeding wound out of Scratch!"

Jessica didn´t hesitate too long. If there was a chance for her to get Scratch and avenge Kitty´s death she wouldn´t let this chance slip away.  
She ran to the door through which Scratch earlier left and called to Keswick. "Don´t you dare blowing yourself up!" before she fused with the night.

**-Mors ultima linea rerum est = Death is everything's final limit -  
-As Scratch said it, it ended how it had to end. It´s maybe too late for Kitty but not too late for Parva.-**


	20. Masterstroke

"Thank god, a happy ending" smirked Willson and opened exuberantly exactly the bottle of wine he had saved for an occasion like this. It was done! Scratch done it! Katswell was dead. And because of that the psychopath was also dead. Willson didn´t understand at first why the voice thought it would help to let Scratch kill this cat.

Something about a connection between the psychopath and her. The voice prattled something about an emotional bond between them, he even mentioned love or something, and that Scratch´s actual name was Dudley Puppy. But Willson understood this neither and now nor he cared about it anymore.

Generally he didn´t care about much, especially not people. People were for him what the pipe-wrench for a plumber was. Tools, means to an end. Already in school he manipulated his class mates and even teachers regardless of the consequences that were ahead of them, while he of course stayed undercover, always washing his hands in innocence.

It was, if you want to call it like that, his talent. Doing things without, at least in the opinion of all people around, being involved in it. A talent which was worth more than gold in politics. Willson was able to eliminate all of his political enemy with the help of this talent.

Except mayor Bear, his predecessor. This guy was just so popular, every scandal bounced off him. Or sometimes even made him stronger. Willson sometimes heard the people saying about the ex-mayor: 'Ah, I don´t bother. That just shows that he´s a person like you and me.'

It was unbelievable! How should he win against a Teflon pan? But luckily in this moment of career stagnation a sinister person raised his voice on the phone and gave him the chance to climb the ladder up further.

Well, of course it cost some lives but nothing in this world is free. And like already mentioned, he didn´t really care about people. 271 tools more or less in this world, that totally doesn´t matter. After all there are 7 billion tools out there.

Willson took a big sip from the bottle and put it euphorically back on the table. His guards told him that Scratch arrived with a dead woman on his arms and as he asked them how the expression on the dogs face had looked like they just answered with the word 'empty'. Just like the voice prophesized it!

_"It´s so good if a plan works like it should."_ He thought grinning. Even though 'like it should' was a lie. Robson was dead, Johnson was dead and White was dead. But at least he was alive. That for itself was enough reason to celebrate.

Happily Willson danced back to his table and gazed at the little monitor which was integrated into it. The guards still stood around Scratch who was holding this cat on his arms. The voice´s orders for this situation were actually very clear. "Shoot him" he said back then.

But Willson didn´t want that the dog just got shot by the guards, that was boring, that had no style. No, he wanted to humiliate him a bit before he would lead him over the Jordan.  
Smiling the wolf pushed the little red button beside the screen and said. "Search him for guns and bring him in here."

After his command was spoken Willson watched how a dozen guards searched Scratch for anything he could use as a weapon. The results were a pencil, color black, and a long knife on which the blood still hasn´t dried yet. As they were finally sure that they wouldn´t find anything, the guards send him through the wide double doors.

"Finally we meet Mr. Scratch." roared Willson with delight as the doors opened.  
"Obviously." Whispered the dog still with this empty gaze.  
"Oh, where are my manners?" asked the wolf as he saw that Scratch´s arms started to tremble. He must have carried this cat for god knows how long. "Just lay her down at the table, so we can talk."

In silence Scratch accepted the offer and laid Kitty softly on the table. Gently he stroked through her hair and whispered. "I´m sorry Kitty…" before he turned back to Willson who had used the time to lock the door. "I think we need a bit privacy."

"For what? Can´t you just kill me and then it´s okay?" Scratch sighed tiredly.  
"No no…" said Willson fast. "That would be too easy… and too less fun. I mean, wouldn´t you enjoy the moment if you were me?"  
"Maybe…" growled Scratch clenching his fists.

"Well then, Mr. Scratch…" started Willson as he walked behind his desk and pulled a gun out of the highest drawer. "How does it feel to kill the person you once loved."  
Scratch answered just by his body language. He clenched his fist tighter, gritted his teeth and took quick and long breaths so that his chest moved up and down in a powerful and somehow intimidating way.

"Oh like that." Smirked Willson and walked around the desk. "I have to admit that I´m pretty amazed that this bothers you at all. I mean, I read a bit about you and I have to say, I take my head off to you." nonchalantly the wolf leaned against the table and started shaking his head in awe.

"I mean the things you did were more than impressive. For example one of the several bank robberies you did. In and out in less than five minutes. Impressive. And then how smart you invested the money. Drug trafficking! Ha! I wish that this would have been my idea. And all that just to be here in this room at the end." With his elbow he gave corpse laying behind him a little nudge and asked him then. "Was it worth it, Mr. Scratch?"

Now something odd happened. Willson had expected much from Scratch. Breaking down, crying or attacking him but this crazy canine suddenly started to laugh manically.  
"You know what, Mr. Willson." He replied wiping some tears of laughter away. "Actually nothing is really worth the effort. In the end life always finds its way to disappoint you somehow. You always get a shovel of sand in your face by someone. And if you scratch the dirt out of your face you can whether ask yourself if it was worth the effort or stand up and wait for the next shovel. And do you know what´s so nice about standing up again?"

"Tell me." Replied Willson still grinning triumphing. But that changed every quickly as instead of Scratch a female voice behind him answered the question. "Sometimes you can throw dirt in someone else´s face."

"What the hell?" Willson spun startled around just to look into the barrel of a gun held by no one else than a smiling Kitty Katswell. "But… but… but… but…" the wolf repeated like a broken record trying to make sense out of that.

"Why I am still alive?" Kitty asked grinning as she snatched the gun out of the wolf´s hand. "Well… I think the master himself should explain his plan."  
"Thank you Kitty." Nodded Scratch thankfully and also a bit flattered. "Oh and by the way, as I carried you I was able to realize that you use a new perfume, or am I mistaken?"

"No you´re right I changed the brand. I´m currently using 'Midnight Moon' by Cloe Levevre." Smiled Kitty.  
"Well, you smell fantastically. Keep it." smiled Scratch friendly back.  
"ARE YOU TWO KIDDING ME RIGHT NOW?" screamed Willson into the smiling.

"Oh yes, forget about you." said Scratch and caught the gun Kitty threw him. "Oh and keep it down. If the guards break the door open you´ll die before they reach you. Anyway… Where was I? Yes, right. Well, it all began a few days ago. As I walked into our hotel room and knew that something was wrong. And after searching a bit I found your little bug. A perfect coincidence because I more or less had an apartment right here." Scratch tapped with his finger against Willson´s forehead. "I had just to play out the right cards to get where I wanted to get right here."

"Well… that´s of course nice for you but you forget, I still have Parva!" Willson replied trying to get his neck out of the noose.  
"Oh well I…" Scratch fell silent as his cellphone rang in his pocket. He got it out quickly and answered it. "Yeah? … excellent. Could you repeat that again?" The bald head dog passed the phone to the mayor who held it against his ear just to hear a young woman´s voice saying. "Why that? Haven´t you heard it old man? I´m free again! You should really go and test your hearing."

Willson looked in that second like something just died in him, what was obviously his courage. The wolf suddenly became pale and again started to stammer. "H…How… but… how?!"  
"As I said, I had an apartment in your head. I needed a spy in your little organization so Seneca and I did this little role play in our room about him leaving the team. I immediately knew that you wouldn´t resist trying to buy him. And then I knew everything you wanted to do… I mean do you really think that Seneca would leave the team because of such trifles? " Scratch laughed. "He´s very thankful for the million, though. He meant he now had, all in all, enough to support all his kids forever… even the ones he don´t know about yet. Anyway, after you swallowed the bait the things got nevertheless a bit complicated. The thing with my brother was a surprise… and not a good one. I mean, knew that there was another killer involved but not that it was him. By the way, my arrest was part of the plan. I had to give you the chance to make me this offer somehow. Also, it was a pretty good opportunity to ask Kitty if she would help me. I actually planned two possible ways how I end up here. One of them you see right now, it worked because of Kitty´s cooperation. The other one was freeing myself from the T.U.F.F. detention and then come here alone while Seneca frees Parva from wherever he kept her. So you and me would be standing here, you would recite your boring speech and then after I told you that I haven´t killed Kitty you had given Seneca the order to kill Parva and then the call would come in. But luckily Kitty offered me her help. She played her role really fantastically and, as I see it, she had fun doing that." Scratch looked again at his old flame and said enthusiastically "Really, you deserve an Oscar."

"Ahh, you." she meant flattered. "You weren´t bad too. You for example played the grieving psychopath very well. And the whole thing in the interrogation room. I mean you took the beating pretty well."

"Your idea was great." Laughed Scratch. "Beating me up and offering me your help. Best part of it was as you rammed your fist into my face saying. 'That has to look real, sorry. But I want to help you. You have a plan?' It was really hard for me after that to keep the mean look on my face."

"Now that you say it… it really sounds odd, doesn´t it?" chuckled Kitty lively.  
"Yep it does." Smiled Scratch. "But hey, there is one last thing we still have to do." Calmly he unlocked the gun and pointed it at Willson´s head. "Check mate, mayor."

Fearfully the mayor walked backwards around his table with his hands raised so high like it was anatomically possible.  
"Okay, Willson, let´s make that clear." Scratch said as Willson bumped against a wall with a great window. "I want the name of your boss. Otherwise… I think you read about me."

"But… Ms. Katswell!" Willson looked over Scratch shoulder trying to address Kitty. "Ms. Katswell, you are a T.U.F.F. agent! You have to stop him."  
"Well, Mr. Willson." Kitty said grinning almost Scratch like. "Of course not but actually… I am dead. And as a dead person I can´t help you."

"But you…" stammered the mayor with tears in his eyes.  
"Oh come on Willson." She meant cutting the wolf short. "You lost… rien ne va plus."  
"Rien ne va plus?" Scratch asked turning his head to her grinning confused.  
"It´s French and means something like… no more bets… it´s over."

"I know, I visited a casino once or twice. I was just surprised… that was kind of cool."  
"You know why? Because I am cool." Laughed Kitty what made also Scratch laugh.  
"Yes you are" he giggled Scratch dedicating his whole attention back to Willson. "Okay, Mr Willson, as you heard, rien ne va plus. So you better give me an answer now."

"I…I… the voice will kill me if I say anything."  
"You kidding me right?" Scratch asked. "What do you think I will do? What do you think is in this gun? Marshmallows? I am the damn threat you should dedicate your whole fear to!"  
"You don´t have any clue what the voice can do! Just leave me alone, okay?" Willson begged with tears in his eyes.

"Nope, I want a name. Now!" Scratch pressed the barrel of his gun with such force at Willson´s head that he bounced back against the window pane and even cracked the glass a little.  
"No… I… I…"

"Do I have to torture you first before you spit it out?"  
"No! Please no!" Willson suddenly sounded no longer fearful, he sounded totally panicked.  
"THEN TALK" Scratch screamed furiously at him.  
"I don´t know who the voice is exactly… Only one person I know knew it."  
"Who?"

Willson contorted his face like he would expect a punch for the next thing he say. "Mathew Richards."  
"What?!" Scratch didn´t give Willson what he expected but what he gave him was a look full of disbelieve. "You want to tell me that the only connection to your boss is the man I killed in the beginning of all of this?!"

"Well… yes."  
Scratch pushed himself away from Willson and scratched the back of his head with the barrel of his gun. He was never so close to break down and scream like an angry spoiled brat whose parents didn´t get him the right presents for Christmas. The work of more than 7 years was just destroyed with this one simple sentence by Willson. All bridges were burnt down, all his sacrifices made pointless by this comment.

"Dudley, are you… okay?" asked Kitty as she saw how he paced restlessly up and down. Again and again the dog ran with his fingers over the baldness on his head. It can´t end like that, there had to be something, at least something.

"How did you communicate with 'the voice'?" He asked stepping closer to Willson again.  
"With this phone over there." With a shivering hand the wolf pointed at his desk. Scratch rushed without faltering to the desk and eyed the phone. Quickly he saw something what was odd for a phone.

"It isn´t plugged." He mumbled eying the device. "Why isn´t it plugged?" confused he picked up the phone and turned it in his hands. "There is something…" with a swift move Scratch beat the phone against the table making the plastic hull crack revealing the inner of that phone which was even more odd.

There wasn´t the usual printed circuit boards you would expect in such a phone, a completely different circuit was integrated in it. "Holly…" Scratch panted as he saw it.  
"What?" asked Kitty eying the electronics cluelessly. She was usually good with such stuff but she had never seen something like this before.

"That is receiver and a transmitter for short distance communication connected to a battery!" the dog gasped.  
"Short distance… do you mean…"  
"Yes… every time the voice had called it was here somewhere… not further than one mile away from this phone." Explained Scratch with a smile rising on his lips again. "That means this bastard was in the city the whole time! Also, it means that someone had to change the phones batteries frequently. And that means I just have to check everybody who was in this building for the last few days. Sure a lot of people but at least a number." Scratch started to laugh again. A feeling of release spread in him. There was hope again.

"Wait, what do you mean with the voice was around here all the…"In the same moment in which Willson fall silent the loud rattling of cracking glass was audible.  
Startled turned Scratch and Kitty their heads to the mayor who fell lifelessly to the ground.

"Dammit!" called the dog and ran to the window where he could just see the silhouette of someone running away on remote rooftop. "You dense motherfucker…" Scratch growled. "Willson was mine!"  
He wanted to run after the assassin immediately, because he was either part of this whole thing or a very pissed citizen and the first thing sounded more plausible for Scratch, but a squad of heavily armed T.U.F.F. agents who broke the door open hindered him.

The T.U.F.F. agents were led by no one else than Jessica who glared with him with a look somewhere between triumph and hate. A bit confused Scratch looked into the barrels of the riffles before he put his hands up and grumbled annoyed. "God dammit…"

"Right you are." Confirmed Jessica with a tone of voice that reflected the expression on her face. "Caught you. Finally… after all this shit, I caught you. And now I let you pay." With joy cocked the cheetah the colt in her hand. She wanted to enjoy this. "Any last words."

"Can I say something?" Kitty asked raising her arm like a student that knows the answer to a question the teacher just asked.  
"Right… let her say something" said Scratch shrugging while he smugly watched how the face of the temporarily chief of T.U.F.F. went from this undefinable triumph-hate expression to total perplexity.

"You have no words?" asked the cat jumping of the table. "Usually it was hard to make you shut your mouth."  
"Narratio argentea, silentium vero aureum est." Scratch laughed about the saying what again just he understood.

"WHY ARE YOU ALIVE!" it burst out of Jessica. "I SAW YOU DYING."  
"You saw what we wanted you to see." Smirked Scratch.  
"But I saw how you rammed a knife into her stomach! I saw her dying!" the cheetah waved her hands around distraughtly. "How you explain that! How do explain that!" her hands finally found a something to do and pointed at the big blood stain on Kitty´s coat.

"Oh, the blood?" Kitty reached with her hand under the whited shirt she wore under the open coat and pulled out a plastic bag in which contained the rest of a red fluid.  
"I just stabbed this bag." Explained Scratch. "It was pretty difficult to make this look real and not hurting Kitty with the knife."

"And the whole thing in the interrogation room?" Jessica´s perplexity more and more yield to the feeling that someone played a big prank on her and led to the fact that more and more anger gathered in her. And Scratch´s self-satisfied grin and Kitty´s triumphing smile poured fuel into the flame in her.

"Big theater play… even though it was a painful one." The dog said running with his hand over his still swollen face.  
"Don´t be such a baby." Sighed Kitty punching him hard on the arm. "You had your revenge in the storage hall."

"Revenge you call that? Gave me a beating and stabbed my shoulder! The only thing I did was giving you a few punches and pretended to choke you!"  
"HEY!" Jessica shouted pointing with her gun alternatingly at Scratch and Kitty. "I still have some questions. Like… why did you do that in the storage hall anyway? You could have just met and the go here."

"Well, we had to assume that maybe someone watches me. So we had to fake a fight there. Also, carrying Kitty in the office gave me the chance to smuggle a gun in here." Meant Scratch with a casual tone.

"And what was my role there? Witnessing that all?" asked Jessica pointing the colt at him.  
"No… you were the variable in my plan. You actually weren´t supposed to show up in the hall. Even though you provided me with the gun I could hide on Kitty´s body. Of course we had searched one if you weren´t there but thanks."

"I think here being there was my fault." Said Kitty. "As I jumped over the roofs I had to stop at a spot to pick the blood bag up and place it on my body… you must have caught up with me in that time."  
"But what about…" the first time since she saw Kitty Jessica´s confusion was low enough to grasp the area around her. Also the rest of the agents behind her seemed to see it now. The dead mayor.

"So you brought it to an end, huh?" the temporally chief pushed the barrel of her colt aggressively into Scratch stomach while also a dozen of red laser dots gathered on the dog´s chest.  
"I´d really liked to say that this was my work but this time someone else owns the respect for this."  
Jessica looked surprised at Kitty and gasped. "You were that?!"

"No!" protested the chief on vacation. "A sniper did that… We wanted to chase after him but then you burst in."  
Jessica turned around to her men and ordered. "Don´t just stand here! Search the surrounding area for this sniper!" then she turned back to Scratch and Kitty. "Okay… I think there is only one thing left to do." She said pulling her handcuffs out. "Dudley Puppy, you are arrested."

"I don´t think it would have any use to struggle against this, huh?" asked the dog.  
"Not really Dudley." Said Kitty laying her hand on his shoulder.  
Scratch let out a protracted sigh and then asked her resigning. "But you remember our deal?"

"When you get out of jail, we´ll find the voice." She nodded smiling slightly.  
"Then you better stay ready. I know a good lawyer." He laughed winking.

"Yeah sure." Sneered Jessica. "You killed at least 4 people! No way that you got out soon."  
Scratch hold his arms towards Jessica waiting her for cuff them. "Try to prove that." He said with his unmistakable smile on the lips.  
"You will see." Jessica said and handcuffed the psychopath.  
Scratch was arrested the second time on this day now. This time also not completely against his will.

**-"Narratio argentea, silentium vero aureum est." = "Talk is silver, silence is golden."-**

-So, I hope that wasn´t too obvious :) I mean, if I let Kitty die, I would that a bit more… spectacular. Hope you like the chapter, there is one more to go. The epilogue.-


	21. High above

The return of the warmth of the spring back into the city brought a long needed revival to the town. The long missed color green accompanied by the warm rays of the sun were a welcomed change to the usually clouded sky. Finally the first trees began to open their buds gently and even the first flowers showed their splendor to the outer world.

Some people would be happy by seeing those outbursts of spring but for Scratch they had a bitterer aftertaste. The only thing he connected with flowers were funerals and graveyards. The only reason for him to hold a bouquet of flowers in his hand was to lay them onto a casket or on the soil in front of a tombstone. Also this time flowers didn´t make him change the way he saw them.

"For one of the last saints" he said laying down a bouquet of chamomiles in front of a tombstone. "Sleep well, Nefarius, my old friend. I hope that the afterlife is like you imagined… or even better."  
"We have to go Dudley." Kitty called from behind, in her voice lay something urging what came from the fact that they didn´t have much time left.

Scratch´s day parole would end in a few hours and then he had to return behind barred windows again, and they still had a meeting.  
"I´m on my way." said Scratch, nodded a last time towards the grave and then walked to Kitty. Even though it couldn´t be called walking what he did.

It was more a permanent attempt not to fall because of the footcuffs he had to wear. These and the handcuffs and being permanently accompanied by a T.U.F.F. agent were the restriction which made this day parole possible.

But even though he wore more metal than cloth, Scratch enjoyed being outside the jail for the first time since more than three weeks. He couldn´t say that this time has rushed by, no it more passed by in snail speed. The prison routine was everything but interesting, at least he had some time to read.

The other prisoners didn´t really want to speak to him. They all were too scared of the legendary Scratch and some of them, especially the ones he had chased as he was a T.U.F.F. agent, were shocked that Scratch was actually Dudley Puppy. That was also something he was kind of upset about.

His cover was blown. As soon as his trial started and the media realized that his story is excellent for their pulpy magazines, everyone knew about it. They somehow were able to realize that he was Scratch… or maybe someone talked. In his trial, the name Scratch was never mentioned. He was always addressed as Mr. Puppy.

It felt pretty odd for him, the last one who called him Mr. Puppy was, if he remembered correctly, Young. The trial itself worked well for him. The court couldn´t find evidences for the murder of the three conspirators he actually murdered. Also the thing with the FBI man was pretty hard for them to prove. Seneca must have covered the evidences somehow. Scratch had no idea, but he really wanted to know the solution for this puzzle.

What kept him in jail was the escape from the T.U.F.F. building and the violence against Keswick. But Scratch´s lawyer already told him that with a bit luck, and a few lawyer tricks, he wouldn´t have to stay longer than 8 months in prison. Time he could use not only to read. He would ask Kitty, who visited him regularly now, to get him a few documents with which he could guaranteed find the name of 'the voice'. And then he could end this once and for all.

During this time, Seneca and Parva had to work without him. But he wasn´t worried about them. The lion was skilled enough to handle most situations and to take care of the newbie. Parva concentrated on her school career again and had moderate success with that. She was still the best in her class but just because the rest of her class was dumb as molding bread.

She would make it, Scratch was sure about that. If she can´t do it no one can do it, that was also what he said to her as she had visited him. Questions concerning her and Rick she answered with great reticence. She didn´t know if there was a future for them. Too much was broken. But a small part in Parva was still hoping that after some time they would find their ways into each other´s arms again.

He hadn´t heard much of his brother. After Stan has been released from the hospital he disappeared. Scratch assumed that he returned home to his daughter to do what he should, being a father for her instead of risking his life in a business he was just to unskilled to survive in it long. It was surprising that he survived until now in it. But maybe Stan was just lucky.

Scratch received a message from Ronald recently. The cuckoo was actually the reason, how Scratch found out, why he could effort such a good lawyer. The bird paid for it. In his messaged he explained that with the words "I don´t invest in your crusade for vengeance but I invest in your attempt to get your neck out of the noose." This nice gesture of Ronald brought a smile on his face.

It was a good idea to let the bird live after all. He maybe was broke now, but he still had rich friends.  
Also about the deal with Richard, Scratch had thought a lot. He came to the conclusion that it was the best decision. In the end, it was just money. People get too upset about money anyway.

Giving away a huge amount of money for a person that is really important to him was the best he could have done, even though it didn´t look like that at first.  
"Kitty, can´t you unchain me?" Scratch begged as he got into the car with her. "I promise not to run away."

"No chance Dudley." Kitty replied. "It was hard enough to get this parole day for you. These are the restrictions and you have to accept them."  
"Well… can you at least put them of when we are on the plane? I mean you don´t get invited by the governor every day. I want to be able to shake hands with the man without hearing the clank of chains."

"I´ll think about that." Smiled Kitty.  
It was strange for Scratch but a few days after his trail started the new governor asked him for a meeting on his private jet as soon as he would get a free day. The interest of the governor for Scratch didn´t came from anywhere.

It was no one else than the former city council Peterson who somehow got wind from the fact that Scratch saved his life by hindering his brother to kill him. The man was so thankful for that, that he wanted to meet his life savior in person to thank him. Scratch expected much to not much from this meeting.

Either he could persuade to the governor and make him annul the coming sentence or he would drink with a politic champagne high above the clouds. Both things sound good, so this was actually some kind of win-win situation.

"Well… how is prison?" Kitty asked after a few kilometers full of silence.  
"Oh, could be worse. I can read pretty much and the villains don´t dare to lay hands on me. So actually quite nice."

"So? What are you reading, by the way?"  
"Right now?" Scratch thought for a second. "The divine comedy by Dante. Quite amusing."  
"The divine comedy?" Kitty probed surprised. "When have you started to read such stuff."  
"After I learned Latin, I think."

"And you also do something else than reading there?"  
"Well" Scratch tapped pensively against his lower lip. "Yesterday I had a pretty long conversation with Birdbrain and Madam Catastrophe. Did you know that they are a couple now?"  
"Those two?" Kitty was so amazed that she almost steered the car into the oncoming traffic.

"Yes! I was also surprised." Laughed Scratch. "Catastrophe explained it to me. She said that, against what everyone expects, Rabbis and she are really just friends and partners in crime. And that this between her and Birdbrain just happened during a while they have tried to steal the same jewel. They both got caught and…"

"I know I know…" meant Kitty slightly disgusted. "I arrested them but I had never thought that this would lead to… that."  
"That aren´t the only news from them… she´s pregnant."  
"What?!" Kitty stepped in surprise so hard on the brakes that Scratch would have flown through the windshield he hadn´t worn his seatbelt.

"Hey stay cool." meant Scratch partly coughing because the seatbelt had chocked him and partly laughing. "That was just a joke, Kitty."  
"Oh come on, Dudley!" breathed Kitty out released. "Don´t scare me!"

"Sorry, I couldn´t resist." giggled the dog mischievously.  
"Yeah… I made it too easy for you." grumbled Kitty.  
"You were kind of an easy target right now, that´s true." Admitted Scratch smiling. "But speaking about easy targets. How´s Keswick doing?"

"He is still very very… very pissed." She sighed. "He still hates you. With all his heart. And to quote him: 'If I get the chance to get Dudley into my paws I will let him pay for all of this!'."  
"Yep… Keswick was always kind of a sore loser. Just remember the times we played Jenga with him."

"The time when he threw the blocks at us or the time he sat the tower on fire?" smirked Kitty.  
"Why choosing? Both events… All times we played any kind of boardgame with Keswick went like that. The snakes and ladders incident the monopoly accident…" Scratch shook his head amused by all these memories. "You know what? One day I really liked to do a board game party with you and Keswick."

"Well, this will definitely never happen. I´ve never seen Keswick act like this. He´s so full of hate and all this is pinned on you. I think you destroyed too much there. You burnt all the bridges."  
"Maybe." said Scratch. "But I think bridges can also be built not just burnt."

"Not all bridges Dudley." Frowned Kitty and parked the car. They had finally arrived on the little airport near Petropolis, where the private hangar was in which Peterson´s yet was parked.  
"What do you mean?" Scratch took his seat belt off and got of the car together with Kitty.

"You said to me…" Kitty walked to the hood of the T.U.F.F. mobile and looked over it directly into Scratch´s eyes. "…that you hope that we can one day look into each other´s eyes without this spark of hate glimmering in them. Well, look into my eyes. Do you see hate there? Or the wish to destroy you?"

"No." said Scratch. "No more."  
"Right. But this won´t go any further. We will not become friends again Dudley and definitely no couple. I will help you to get 'the voice', we will talk with each, we will laugh with each other from time to time but that´s all. There will be never anything more than that. This is our status quo."

It was odd but that didn´t make Scratch sad. On a contrary, he was also a bit glad to hear those words. These words were actually more than he had ever expected. Of course he would like to go back to the time before things were starting to fall apart but he knew that this wish was utopic.  
Status quo was the only thing he could reach between Kitty and him in reality. And he reached it.

"Well, at least we can laugh together." Grinned the dog what made Kitty smile a little. He didn´t know if she smiled because she was glad that he accepted that or simply because what he said amused her. Whatever it was, he enjoyed her soft smile and the kindness in her face.

"Mr. Puppy, Ms. Katswell?" A dog with brownish fur who wore a black suit with white shirt and black tie stepped to them. Friendly smiling he took of his sunglasses revealing a pair of aquamarine blue eyes which perfectly matched with his dark blonde hair which he had combed to the side. He was about 40 years old, maybe younger.

It was actually pretty hard to tell his age just by looking at his face because the dog had somehow managed it to collect during his lifespan nothing more than a few laughter lines which are just visible on closer examination.

"Yes." Said Scratch for them both just to see his hand then caught in a firm handshake.  
"Glad to finally meet you Mr. Puppy." Said the man shaking his hand like his life depends on that. "I am Donald Peterson. Thanks for saving my life."

Scratch felt somehow odd hearing those words. This paring of words was one he really didn´t hear so often and when he hears them the he heard the word 'ruining' instead of 'saving'. Odd, as already mention, but somehow a feeling he could get used to.

"You´re welcome Mr. Peterson." He smiled in his unique way. "Recte facti fecisse merces est… Uhm… I mean I´m always glad when I can help."  
"That is excellent." Replied the governor with a stentorian laugh. His gaze fell on the chains on Scratch´s hands and feet. "Uhm… Mrs. Katswell?"

"Yes, Mr. Peterson?"  
Before he asked the question that was on his mind Peterson shook Kitty´s hand in the same way he did it with Scratch´s before. "First nice to meet you. As I heard you´re doing fantastic work with fighting the crime here in Petropolis and the surrounding area. I still can remember your predecessor, Chief Dumbrowski, and I like to remark quite rightly that you are doing as well as him if not better."

"Thank you." Kitty seemed pretty flattered hearing those compliments. At least that´s what Scratch concluded as he saw the grin Peterson´s words caused.  
"You´re welcome. But I´d like to ask you if you could do me a favor. Could you please unchain Mr. Puppy? I don´t think that he is about to run away as soon as we take his chains of. Isn´t that so, Mr. Puppy?"

"Of course not." Smiled Scratch.  
"You see? So would you be so kindly?"  
A bit reluctant Kitty yield to governors request. Free from his chains Scratch rubbed his wrists. "Much better." He said and smiled to his former partner who didn´t seem so glad about that.

"Excellent." Nodded Peterson. "If you would be so kindly to follow me now? In the plain champagne and caviar waiting for us." With a fast pace he walked towards a white jet that stood on the airfield ready for take-off. Scratch was the first after Peterson on the stairs to the plain. He ran them up in joyful anticipation. It was mostly the caviar and the champagne that let him take two stairs at once.

The prison itself, like Scratch found out, was mostly because of his reputation as psychopath pretty quiet and boring. But the meals… the meals were torture and Scratch could say that, if someone knew something about torture it was him.

Kitty was also about to walk up the stairs but a bodyguard, a rhino in a black suit, stopped her. "Excuse me, but we don´t feel comfortable when you wear your gun inside the plane. Please be so kindly to hand it to me."

"I am the chief of T.U.F.F.." Kitty stated with firm voice. "I am authorized and completely capable to wear this gun everywhere also if you want you can call T.U.F.F., if you like and request a psychological expert report that will prove that."

"It is not because of you." said the rhino with a low voice. "It´s more because we don´t feel comfortable if guns and Mr. Puppy are at this plane at the same time."  
Kitty couldn´t really say anything against that. Of course she knew that Scratch wouldn´t attack anyone on this plane but she also understood their reservations. Sighing she gave in and handed the body guard her gun.

"Thank you." said the rhino and let her pass.  
The inside of the plane wasn´t as luxury as expected. It was parted into two areas which were separated by a red velvet curtain. In those two areas, always at a window, two seats were placed so that both passengers face each other during the flight.

All in all the planed seemed like it was once a normal airliner for the well-heeled. On one of the seats in the second area of the plane Scratch already sat drinking a glass of champagne. As he saw her he waved Kitty to him.

"Kitty!" he said. "You have to try the champagne! It´s a **Perrier-Jouët from** 1911 and it taste wonderful!"  
"I can´t, I´m on duty." She sighed flopping down in the chair on the other side.  
"Bad luck." He smirked taking a sip.

"Hey, by the way, where is Mr. Peterson?" Kitty looked around just seeing a bodyguard sitting near the curtain.  
"In the cockpit." Scratch said before talking another sip. "He´ll join us when we reach our cruising altitude."

"Another surprise." Kitty said fastening her seatbelt.  
"Yep. By the way, what I wanted to ask you before our conversation in the car drifted off. How is Jessica?"  
"Jessica? Fine." Said Kitty while she was pressed into the seat as the plane sped up. "She was promoted after catching you. But she refused it."

"Really? Why that?" Scratch asked holding his glass tight, not willing to lose a drop of the precious champagne.  
"Well, she realized that the job as the chief isn´t her liking. Too much paperwork, she said. So she talked with the supreme command and now she is part of the T.U.F.F. branch in New York."

"New York." Said Scratch impressed. "Well, she likes action. In New York she´ll find it."  
"Oh and I have something odd here." Kitty remarked and pulled a little piece of paper out of her pocket. "I received a letter from my old friend Carmelita."

"So?" Scratch started smirking while Kitty opened the letter.  
"Yeah, she asked me how I´m doing and wrote what changed in her life. She´s engaged now."  
"You don´t say." He said with pretended surprise.

"Yes." Replied Kitty excited. "But the actually Peculiar thing is the last line here." She cleared her throat and read out loud. " 'PS: Say the following things to Dudley, aka Scratch. HAHA' … before I ask you what happened between you and her tell me, do I want to hear the story?"  
"Actually… no." giggled Scratch mischievously.

"Okay, then I won´t investigate further." Kitty put the letter back into her pocket.  
Relaxed Scratch put his glass on the little table, which was attached on the wall next to him, and looked at the surface of the champagne in the glass.  
"I think we have reached our cruising height." He said as he saw that the water line and the table were parallel. "Peterson will be here any minute."

And like he summoned him, the dog entered through the curtain with a big stuffed backpack under his arm. "Welcome onboard." The governor laughed and put the luggage down. "Now after we greeted each other, I think we should talk a little, right?" With lighting speed Peterson grabbed into the holster of the guard sitting next to the curtain, put the gun on the head of the guy and pulled the trigger. "Now we have a bit more privacy." He smirked.

Kitty and Scratch sat in their seats and looked shocked at Peterson. They had no idea what exactly just happened. It took them a whole minute before one of them, Kitty to be precisely, found some words to express their confusion. "What did just happen here?" she asked the governor who still had this friendly smile on his lips.

"Oh well, just political stuff." He laughed. "You wouldn´t understand it."  
"Why have you shot this man?!" Scratch asked completely flabbergasted.  
"Politics, as I said. This man has to die and… oh yes, also you two." Peterson pointed his gun at them as he saw that they rattled on their seatbelts. "You better keep sitting."

"We? Why that?" Kitty asked.  
"Well, you two were on my tracks. Okay, Scratch was actually on my tracks but you know too much."  
"On your tracks, what do you mean?" Scratch shouted.

"Mr. Scratch, please, I expected a little more from you. Think about it, who could I be? A little hint, I´m someone you hunting."  
"No, no that can´t be! You can´t be 'the voice'!"  
"And why not?" Peterson sounded more confused than something that would be more appropriate for someone in his situation.

"Because they tried to kill you!"  
"Mr. Scratch, remember what we did with Mr. Dumbrowski in the Petropolis massacre." Explained the governor. "The best way pretending not to be involved in something is to pretend to be the enemy of it or to pretend that they try to kill you because you are an obstacle in their way. Also feeding the media with that gave my career a little lift."

"What do you mean with 'what we did with the chief in the massacre.'?" Kitty looked asking to Scratch who gazed with frozen expression to Peterson. "You are the voice…" he whispered still with a bit disbelieve in his voice.

"Yes I am." Said the man with the gun. "But I´d be nothing without my biggest help, Dudley Puppy."  
"I?" growled the bald head dog angrily.  
"Yes you. I would make you to the employee of the year if I could." Peterson laughed a little. "You did everything I wanted you to do and you don´t even realized that."

"And what exactly did I do for you?"  
"The dirty work." Explained Peterson. "You let the evidences disappear. I´m in a phase of cleaning right now and you got rid of the meanest pieces of dirt. Willson, White, Johnson, Robson, Young and Richards."  
"But they were part of your organization. Why would you kill them."

"Well, Richards knew my identity and even though he was maybe the most loyal of all of them, his knowledge was still a threat. But luckily you searched for him so I said to him it would be saver for him in the prison knowing that the temporary chief Jessica would use him to lure you into a trap. I just had to trust in your skills and wait until you find that out and get him. Young was about to crack, he spend too long in this prison. But I knew exactly that you wouldn´t let the killer of your mother get away. Also I knew that you would in your attempt to find me just leave burnt ground behind you. So it wasn´t hard to predict that you would kill the other four. And Dumbrovski… well, I´m not sure but it was you, right?"  
Kitty turned her head shocked to Scratch who was just staring furiously at the governor. "Dudley did you really…?"

"Anyway." Peterson continued saving Scratch from further questions of Kitty. "The only thing that should have never happened was that you find out about Willson´s phone. With this information I knew that you will figure out who I am sooner or later. I mean, I was often around and as former city council I have an office in the city hall. And if you had then done a background check on me you would realize that I served in the army as a sniper. And then everything I worked for would be in vein, Mr. Scratch."

"So I was nothing more than a tool for you?" growled Scratch.  
"Please, don´t feel insulted but you were most of the time too predictable to be a real threat, Mr. Scratch." He said it in a way like he really tried to apologize. "I mean you kill like a machine, completely automatized. If you have an enemy, you kill him. Let´s just take Paraguay as an example. God, there you even killed people who weren´t your enemies. Disgusting."

"From where… do you know from Paraguay?"  
"Young told it Richards, Richards told it to me. Isn´t that obvious?" Peterson said in a casual tone. "I have to say, hearing these stories let the feeling of disgust grow in me against you. I really didn´t understand the reasons why you behaved so brutally down there. It seemed so… pointless."

"You really want to talk with me about pointless cruelty, Peterson?" barked Scratch. "271 people, Peterson, 271!"  
"Yes, the massacre." Sighed the governor rolling his eyes. "I of course feel despondent that it was necessary to sacrifice these people, even though it was for a greater good. However, Mr. Scratch, you start talking about numbers I will reply with a number. Well, it´s an estimated number but nevertheless very meaningful. 1,500, Mr. Scratch."

The bald head dog froze as he heard the number. He just kept staring at Peterson.  
"As I said, meaningful. And now I want to hear an answer from you, Mr. Scratch. How does the murder of 271 people by me justifies the murder of 1,500 people by you?" the dog pointed his gun at Scratch and waited for an answer, but there came no answer. After a while of waiting Peterson nodded saying. "I thought so."

"And what are you going to do now?" Kitty said giving the governor a hateful glare.  
"Fulfilling the plan, now that all obstacles are removed thanks to Mr. Scratch I can finally candidate for presidency. Even though the whole election is just a formality. The people will vote for me… I mean have you seen my opponent?"

"What presidency you? You are crazy."  
"No, I am the last sane and thinking person." Peterson stated with the voice of a politician that is holding a speech. "This country goes down the tubes. Since years. But no one does something against that. All politicians just do what the people want to save their re-election. But the people are like really stupid kids. They don´t know they really want and especially they don´t know what they really need. But I know what this country needs and after my elections I will make the decisions that will bring us back to the top. Of course, many of us won´t like it, many will even hate it but when I´m done we will all live in the bright future about which we are currently just dreaming about."

"I repeat it, you are crazy!" Kitty screamed again.  
"A dim mind like yours may think that." Said Peterson before he suddenly added. "Oh please excuse me, I didn´t want to insult you."  
Heavily breathing Scratch got loose from his state of paralysis and raised his voice. "And what will you do to us?"

"I think I said that, haven´t I?" Peterson probed cocking his gun.  
"Oh right… but isn´t that a bit profane after all of this."  
"Of course you are right Mr. Scratch. It would be profane." All of the sudden and to the great surprise Kitty and Scratch, Peterson put the gun on his own left arm and shot it. He screamed loudly while the sound of the gunshot lapsed. "That is really the worst part of this plan."

"What the hell is going on here?" Kitty screamed perplex.  
"I know this seems a bit paradox but I need you two to die in a different way." the governor hissed in pain. "You two to die in a plane-crash of which I am the only survivor. Mr. Scratch and you tried to attack me and Mrs. Katswell supported you, she even tried to shot me with her gun. But luckily I was able to grab it and then get a parachute and jump." Just in that moment Kitty realized that the gun Peterson was holding was hers.

"I´m sorry that…" he continued. "…this will cost your good reputation Ms. Katswell but as I said it´s for the greater good. I also have to reveal everything about you Mr. Scratch but don´t worry you, like , won´t live the moment when I tell this story to the press."  
"That´s insane!" Kitty screamed. "We will land this plane and then we will show that you were the man behind this all…"

"Kitty…" sighed Scratch. "That has no use. Even if we survive our words would fall on deaf ears. I mean I am an unstable psychopath and you were the only one authorized having a gun on this plane. It was his plan… I also think that he already found my file and your file about the conspiracy."

Peterson tapped amused against his nose. "Exactly Mr. Scratch." He grabbed the backpack he laid down on the floor before he started shooting around and saddled it up. "Before I leave now… one last thing." Slowly the dog walked backwards to one of the emergency exit doors. "One thing really surprised me. And I have to give you credit for that. Giving a million Dollar worth drug empire just to save someone who hated you at that moment, that is either a sign of total devotion or of total idiocy. Nevertheless, I take my hat off to you!" Peterson bowed before he pulled at the red handle on the emergency door.

The door opened with a loud bang and immediately the governor was sucked out of the plane by the suction that came from pressure compensation between inside and outside of the plane.  
"God dammit" cursed Scratch screaming to drown the loud sound of the air which was rushing by that came through the open hole in the hull.

"Come with me Kitty!" Angrily Scratch opened his seatbelt and walked determined but cautiously not to fall outside of the jet to the cockpit. Kitty followed him into the little room, separated from the rest of the plain by a door, and sat down next to Scratch on the co-pilot´s seat.

It was a bit more silent in this part of the plane but nevertheless everything around them was unbelievably loud.  
"Dammit!" Scratch shouted slamming his fist on the gathering of blinking lights and buttons in front of him.

"What is it?" she screamed still to shocked from being alone without a pilot in a plane to be nervous or afraid. But maybe also the adrenalin that dictated just one directive to her brain. And this directive was 'Do something.' Instead of the other urge she had and that was to talk or more beat the answers concerning the chief´s death out of Scratch.

"I just realized how this bastard fooled me. Even the thing with my business was part of his plan. I bet he was the one who gave the information to Richard, not the hacker! Damn, I killed this man for nothing! Peterson really wanted to leave me with nothing in the end!"

"THIS IS REALLY YOUR ONLY THOUGHT RIGHT NOW?" Kitty yelled. "SHOULDN´T YOU BE WORRIED ABOUT THE PLANE?"  
"I just can´t take my mind of that." Screamed Scratch. "Also, I don´t have any idea how to fly this thing!"

"You mean that…"  
"Yes." Completed Scratch. "We are fucked!"  
In unison Kitty and Scratch turned to the plains windbreaker. Driven by pure fear that drowned all other feelings out Kitty´s hand slowly moved to Scratch´s hand and grabbed it as she saw out of the window. It was more than terrifying for her what came closer to them and as she felt by how Scratch squeezed her hand, he felt the same.

But who wouldn´t feel fear in every cell of his body if he look in such a situation out of the window… and the ground is coming closer.

**-"Recte facti fecisse merces est" = "The reward for a good deed is to have done it"-**

**-The End-**

**-Well that´s it. That was Killer´s Instinct II: Step by step. Hope you liked the story about the revenge of Scratch and how he outsmarted his enemies just to get outsmarted in the end. I don´t think I have to mention that there´ll be a sequel? I mean I can´t let it end like that. Anyway, tell me how you liked it and also tell me how you think how it will continues because I could need some ideas for the sequel ;) Until then I will also publish other stuff, like Space Oddity 2 and I´m also planning maybe a little Sly Cooper story but let´s see… I´m also open for suggestions ;)  
Well, now I can just say, so long guys. :D-**

-Oh and special thanks too JohnD-art from deviantArt for letting me use his character Jessica. By the way, check out his gallery, he really makes awesome art.-  



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